A former rugby star has broken down in tears after opening up about his struggles with dementia following 30 on-field concussions.
Michael Lipman, 42, played over 200-matches in his storied career as well as 10 international cap for England, but he was forced to retired in 2012 due to short-term memory loss and severe headaches.
The flanker recalls the games as ‘wild and blatantly violent’ but he never realised the repeated head knocks were taking a severe toll.
‘I loved it. I wanted more, and more, and more,’ he told The Sunday Project.
‘Stitch me up and get me back out there… that’s all I was thinking. Get me back out there.’
During the candid interview the footy player who was born in London but grew up in Sydney, was shocked to see his hand bleeding and could not remember how it happened.
Shortly after he started weeping explaining it’s a constant battle to remember ‘why you are who you are’.
Former rugby international Michael Lipman (right) is pictured with his wife Frankie. He now suffers from dementia
‘Every time I got knocked out on the field, all I heard from the doctors and the physios right there as I was lying unconscious, they asked me three questions (when I come to).
‘”What day is it? Who are we playing? What’s the score?” I remember those questions so vividly, ’cause it happened so often to me.’
At 21, he moved from Sydney to the UK to start his 11-year professional career playing for Bristol and Bath from 2001 to 2009.
His England debut was against the the New Zealand All Blacks. But what should be a treasured memory is a blank slate.
He was hit so hard, he remembers ‘absolutely nothing’ of the game.
When Lipman moved back to Australia to play for the Melbourne Rebels, his concussions became more frequent and the symptoms became more severe.
The former rugby player (pictured centre in a match for Bath in 2009) suffered more than 30 concussions during his playing career
‘I realised something was going on, but I didn’t show it…
Source : dailymail
