My memory is really bad. I have speech problems. I am worried
Will Hurrell had to quit at 30 after a tackle caused a stroke So what does the future hold?
ONE of the perks of living in a city centre apartment is the nearby bars and cafes. Looking out of his window, Will Hurrell is pointing out the local pub that he visited with his old Bristol team-mates on the night after their victory in October’s Challenge Cup final. He tells the story about how they enjoyed a few end-of-season drinks together, before the Bristol players were placed on standby for the Premiership final as Wasps fought to contain an outbreak of Covid.
‘The guys had to stop drinking and go back into the club for testing,’ says Hurrell, with a laugh. ‘One of them threw up as they stuck the swab down his throat. The Fijian lock… what’s his name?’
I point out that Bristol do not have a Fijian l ock. Hurrell pauses, confused, before offering an unnecessary apology. He explains how he has been suffering from memory loss as a result of a head injury that forced him to retire in January.
‘I had this stroke,’ he says. ‘I tried to melt this giant Leicester second row and got my head caught in the tackle. I came off and started throwing up everywhere. I was trying to speak and, apparently, I was j ust t alking gibberish — couldn’t pronounce any words.
‘I had dysphasia, vision issues, balance issues. I started pouring with sweat and I thought, “I’m in trouble here”.’ The side- effects continued in the following weeks. ‘I was in A&E for two days before I was sent home. I stayed at my mum and dad’s, where I was sleeping 16 hours a day for a month or two. I went back to Bristol for an MRI and they said I’d had a brain bleed, then I had a second scan and they said I’d had a stroke through the main artery of my frontal lobe.
‘So yeah, it’s affected my memory a bit. The specialist told me if I took another hit like that, I would lose all my memory, end up in a wheelchair… or end up dead.’
Now Hurrell is living with the consequences. Last week, the likes of Steve Thompson and Michael Lipman launched a lawsuit against the sport’s governing bodies about head injuries. They have been diagnosed with early onset dementia and are seeking damages for a lack of protection. Hurrell, 30, comes from a different generation. He could rightfully feel aggrieved at how the sport has left him, however he does not hold anyone to account.
‘It’s been a real struggle,’ he says. ‘My memory is still really bad, I still get speech problems, I still get tired. All of these different things. When I decided to retire, I went to post a message on social media and I was struggling to spell. My parents had to check it for me.
‘Now I’m much slower mentally than I was before rugby but I wouldn’t change anything. With me, it was a one-off incident. To say that I’ve been mishandled long term is a different thing.
‘It was my decision to play rugby and I knew the risks involved. I don’t think you can ever mitigate that risk entirely because there are big guys running into each other. That’s a risk I took. It’s tough but it’s something I have got to manage.’
HE believes the sport is in a better state than it was, although there are still improvements that can be made. ‘It’s f*****g awful to read that these guys have got dementia in their 40s,’ says Hurrell. ‘I think they’ve done as much as they can to minimise the acute injuries, like mine, with HIAs and stuff.
‘We’ve got much more data now than we had then and we’re still gathering more.
‘ Unless you start limiting how much game time guys have and how much contact time they have in the week, I don’t see what else you can do. Maybe they could focus on limiting game time for front-five players, because I think that’s where the biggest risk is: scrums, mauls, clear-outs.
‘I don’t think you should be doing more than one hard contact training session a week… there have been times where I did two or three a week and that takes a lot out of you. That’s somewhere the sport could get better. But things like reducing tackles below waist height? I think that’s one of the worst things you could do. People aren’t used to it and a lot of concussions come from the low chop tackles. As long as you have rucks and tackles, there will always be a risk.
‘ It’s improved since those days when you would have a concussion and play on. I don’t think there needs to be a mass overhaul, but there are always more i mprovements to make.’ As for his own future, Hurrell can only hope there is no more collateral damage. ‘I would be lying if I said it doesn’t worry me,’ he says.
‘I think about my family and my daughter. To be honest, I feel lucky that I’m not completely incapacitated. I can still work and play golf with my dad.
‘Will I keep deteriorating into my 40s and not be able to look after myself? That is a worry, but I just have to make the most of things.’