A BU academic and leading expert in the dangers of high impact sports was featured on ITV’s coverage of the England international football game.
England’s game in the Nations League against the Republic of Ireland, broadcast nationally on ITV and ITVX, featured an in-depth story with former England international Dave Watson, now living with dementia, believed to be as a result of the high-impact nature of his football career.
Dr Keith Parry, Head of the Department of Sport and Events Management at BU, has been conducting research into brain injuries in sport as a result of impact such as heading footballs, or tackling and concussion in rugby, and featured in the story to share his expertise on the possible links between sport and conditions like dementia.
Dr Parry said, “The work that we are doing is so important because it highlights that brain injuries and brain diseases in athletes impact so many more people than just the athlete – family and friends in particular suffer alongside the athlete. The stories we have heard, such as Dave Watson’s, are likely to be just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, with many more to follow at all levels of sport and not just with professional players sadly.”
Keith has previously written on the subject, and has published research on the need to protect children taking part in sport while more work is done to understand the link between high-impact sport and brain injury.
Dr Parry continued, “Governments and those sports that have high levels of traumatic brain injuries and brain diseases in former players need to stop delaying and act to support former players but also to change these sports so that the next generations of young players are kept safe from harm. Rules are changed to financially benefit sports all the time; why won’t sports change their rules to keep players safe?”
The piece, broadcast ahead of the international fixture, was followed by a discussion in the studio on the subject.
Keith said, “While we will continue to push for changes in policy and practice, telling the stories of those impacted is also so important. In our future research we will continue to tell these stories and to further demonstrate that these injuries and diseases should be viewed as a public health crisis.”
The story in full can be watched on ITV Sport’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK-mDhylXWc
To find out more about the research, Keith can be contacted on [email protected].
