What's the story?
Following Kevin Nash’s announcement that he would donate his brain for concussion research, Jeff Hardy announced on Ring Rust Radio that he is inspired by Big Daddy Cool’s gesture and intends to do the same.
Likewise, Mick Foley stated on Twitter that he would make a similar donation but added that he was convinced by Co-founder & CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, Chris Nowinski, who is also a former WWE wrestler.
You can read Mick’s response to a fan who said he should donate his brain to science.
In case you didn’t know...
Hall of Famer Kevin Nash announced that he would donate his brain to the CTE Center at Boston University and Concussion Legacy Foundation in March. The Concussion Legacy Foundation is currently run by Nowinski and was founded by him along with Dr Robert Canu in 2007.
It was created in the light of new medical research that indicated that brain trauma in sport had become a health crisis. Research now shows that repetitive brain injuries, regardless of if they are caused by concussive or sub-concussive blows, could result in the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
The heart of the matter
Hardy announced his intention to make a donation of this nature during his recent appearance on Ring Rust Radio after being asked about concussions in wrestling. Here’s what he had to say:
“My wife read where Kevin Nash announced that and I said, ‘Oh my God I have to do that.’ I for sure will do whatever it takes and I would love to be a part of that. It’s a huge serious issue in wrestling. I’ve rung my bells so many times especially back in the day when chair shots to the head were legal. My goodness, I took so many of those. Luckily, I’m only aware of about two or three concussions that I have had but there’s really no way of telling how many overall. When Nash announced he was doing that I was on board and I didn’t know that RVD did as well. That really inspired me to do the same thing.”
Mick Foley, on the other hand, credits his Nowinski for talking him into it and will be donating his brain to the Concussion Legacy Fund just like Nash has done.
The impact
CTE is a disease that is relatively unknown as of now and cannot be diagnosed until after the death of the concerned patient. Therefore, any contribution to its further research is nothing short of heroic and the careers that Foley and Hardy have had, unfortunately, make them suitable candidates for studies of this kind.
Author’s take
We can do nothing but applaud Jeff and Mick’s selfless gesture and hope that their contribution helps athletes who could fall prey to this disease in the future.
Send us news tips at [email protected]
