Former Wales international David James says he has early-onset dementia
A new big name emerged from the shadows on Tuesday, among the 169 former players who have taken legal action against the international (World Rugby), Welsh (WRU) and English (RFU) rugby unions. Former Welsh midfielder David James (48 matches between 1996 and 2007) said: at BBC that he suffered from mental illness, like his compatriots Alex Popham and Ryan Jones, New Zealander Carl Hyman And England’s Steve ThompsonThey were all involved in the same legal battle.
The former midfielder or winger revealed that he took tests because “I was wondering what was wrong with me”. He also said he may have had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative disease that can only be identified postmortem, by examining the brain.
Panic attacks and anxiety
Passed by seven clubs, including Llanelli and London Harlequins, James has scored 29 tries in the European Cup, the sixth so far in a ranking dominated by England’s Chris Ashton (41), ahead of Vincent Clerk (36). After his career ended in 2010, he had already revealed that he suffered from panic and anxiety attacks.
“My mental health hurts,” he told the BBC. In a way, it’s kind of a catharsis to tell people this because I’m trying to help other people who are hurting, and there are a lot of them. »
According to British state media World Rugby, the WRU and RFU said they were saddened by the former player’s illness. British and Irish blackbut could not comment on the ongoing legal action.
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