STAR HEADS BATTLE FOR FUTURE PLAYERS
Former Wales international Alix Popham revealed his diagnosis of early onset dementia and probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy back in December. Since then, he’s been trying to drive change in the sport. Ben James reports...
“IT’S keeping me... what’s the word I’m looking for...” Alix Popham pauses for a second, struggling for the right word to describe his busy schedule. “Preoccupied,” he settles upon, “but in a positive way.
“It’s keeping me organised. I’ve got things in the diary to work towards and keep me positive and driven.”
It’s been nearly three months since Popham went public with his harrowing diagnosis.
In December, the former Wales international revealed he had, at the age of 40, been diagnosed with early onset dementia and probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). It is “probable” because the diagnosis can be confirmed only by a post-mortem examination.
His brave decision to speak out, alongside fellow former players Steve Thompson, Michael Lipman and Adam Hughes as part of a landmark legal action against some of the sport’s governing bodies, sent shockwaves through rugby.
Since then, Popham’s been a busy man. He’s been in demand for media interviews, while he’s also thrown himself into driving change in the sport he loves – not only with the legal action, but as part of new lobby group Progressive Rugby and his own charity, Head for Change.
Going into his shell was never going to be the next step for Popham after that heartbreaking revelation in December. In that sense, it’s been quite a few months for the 41-year-old.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” he admitted. I was glad of Christmas if I’m honest. Just having a break with my wife Mel and the kids. People wanted to hear our story and people getting in contact, it was overwhelming.
“It’s been unbelievably supportive. Love, generosity. People want to support, get involved and help.”
One such message from Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas has resulted in Head for Change’s first major fundraising event.
This weekend, Popham is leading a 24-hour cycle challenge on Zwift, an online cycling and running physical training programme which allows users to interact, train and compete in a virtual world.
Taking place over two days, with six two-hour stages each day, the cast list of rugby stars involved is impressive.
Shane Williams, Ryan Jones, Lee Byrne, Ken Owens, Will Greenwood, Dylan Hartley, James Haskell, Thierry Dusautoir, Ugo Monye, Simon Easterby and Josh Navidi, to name but a few, are all signed up – plus plenty more beyond that illustrious roll call.
It’s a remarkable level of support for the charity’s first major event and indicative of the response Popham has received since he went public.
Players past and present, from the amateur game right up to the professional level, have reached out to Popham – either thanking him for his bravery or admitting they too have suffered in relative silence until now.
“I’ve had countless texts from explayers, current players, current internationals and Lions, saying what you’re all doing is amazing and thanking us for speaking out.
“It’s not for me though, it’s for the future generations and for the game to continue. This is going to help hundreds of thousands of people when these changes get put in place.
“Unfortunately, a lot more boys since the diagnosis – around another 150 – have come forward to say they’re in similar positions.
“When I started getting tested, there was about 15 boys going through the testing. Now there’s about 260 doing it.
“40-odd have been diagnosed, about 100 are going through testing and about 120 more are waiting to be tested. That number is growing every day.
“I’ve spoken to five boys who have tried to commit suicide after being misdiagnosed as being depressed. They’ve got probable CTE and earlyonset dementia.”
In the world we live in, unfortunately the wider reaction to Popham’s revelation wasn’t totally positive.
“There’s been a couple of silly comments here and there,” he adds. “Nobody would mention concussion back when I was playing. You’d talk about other injuries, but concussion was almost laughable back then.
“The negative comments now is largely keeping your head in the sand in that respect. Mums and dads won’t send their kids to rugby practice if rugby doesn’t do all it can. It’s not doing that yet.”
The sport is questioning everything it currently does as it faces the consequences of sleepwalking into a problem as big as this.
“There’s so many amazing things about rugby,” stressed Popham. “It’s a special, special sport and change needs to happen sooner rather than later.
“We don’t want to change what is on a Saturday, it is a contact sport and there are injuries after all, but let’s control the controllables and that’s what happens through the week.
“Small, easy wins like reducing the amount of contact in training like the NFL did [with American football] 11 years ago. The NFL’s rules are you’re only allowed 16 contact sessions a season. With games and play-offs, they’ll have a maximum of between 30 and 40 days of contact a year for one player. In rugby, that’s around 220 days a year. It’s crazy.”
Like the sport itself, Popham too is facing up to a terrifying reality. Yet despite the immense gravity of his diagnosis nearly a year ago, he remains remarkably positive.
He’s driven and organised, while the work to raise awareness is something which Popham can throw himself into wholeheartedly.
“It’s a rubbish situation with the diagnosis but we’re trying to turn it into a positive with the charity,” he says.
“I like to be organised. I live by 30-minute regiments in my day, otherwise I’ll forget things.”
He’s made several lifestyle changes, too. He’s cut alcohol out completely, while he’s changed to a 95% Mediterranean diet. Lots of vegetables, fish and only one steak permitted per week.
And – as you’d expect given his cycling efforts this weekend – he’s staying active. He’s already planning on taking part in Tenby Ironman, while a charity hike up the Brecon Beacons is also in the works.
But despite all of his optimism, Popham knows he is swimming against a tide which he will never truly conquer. But for now, he’s staving off the degeneration.
“I’m just trying to do all the little one percents which keep off the degeneration for as long as possible. I’m willing to commit to that and hopefully people will learn from that.
“My memory is still an issue. I go to the local shop for some shopping and I can’t remember what I came for. I went to get cash out for Mel and I couldn’t remember the pin code when I was there. It’s little things like that.
“I know who I played for in rugby, but 95% of the vivid memories aren’t there. I thought I was losing my memories, but in truth they were never stored.
“I remember things from my childhood, but when I was playing, my brain was too inflamed to store memories.”
And with that, Popham was gone – off to fulfil another half-hour interview engagement. Driving change in the sport he loves, 30 minutes at a time.
■ This weekend, the Head For Change Rugby Ride Challenge, powered by Mindset 4 Dementia, is seeing more than 100 former international rugby players racing in 10 countries worldwide. The two-day event, hosted on virtual training platform Zwift, continues today.
■ To find out more about the event go to the Zwift website: https:// www.zwi ft. com/ events/ tag/ rugby ride challenge
■ Donations are welcomed by the charity with thanks at www. headforchange.org.uk