Fab Foodie
hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
- Location
- Kirton, Devon.
Brain damage has long been known in boxing, so if you’re boxing now the risk is clear.Next we will have boxers taking action against their sporting body. The risks of brain damage through any contact sport is obvious at the outset. After getting clattered a couple of times at rugby, it is even more obvious. These guys had the opportunity to hang their boots up at any stage and walk away and chose not not to. At what stage do they take responsibility for their own actions and stop trying to blame someone else.
In Football and Rugby it’s a pretty new phenomena, and in Rugby Union it would appear the effects visible at a much younger age and potentially in higher numbers and seem to correlate with the rise of the professional game. So it’s probably change in the nature of Rugby which is potentially the cause of the ‘New’ injuries.
Now, there are lots of caveats there, but in simple terms this is a new thing and whether the RFU had a duty of care will be seen in the courts. I think ‘blame culture’ is unfair, much H&S law came about through cases being brought by employees against employers.
In any case (and this is the point of the thread), knowing what we now know, what is to be done?