Rugby league concussion lawsuit: Nearly two-thirds of claimants ‘showed CTE symptoms’

One of the claimants in the rugby league case is Roy Heaney, 64, who played for Wigan and Salford in the 1980s having initially played football for Liverpool reserves and Bolton Wanderers. He has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia and probable CTE.

He told BBC Sport he sustained regular concussions during his careers in both football and rugby league.

“There’s no way your brain can sustain that sort of damage,” he said.

“I’ve had issues for about 25 years that have affected me – my personality, my quality of life has suffered, I’ve lost jobs because of my issues with brain damage, relationships have failed, it’s affected all parts of my life.

“I never dreamed for one minute that from my mid-30s onwards I would struggle with issues of my brain. None of us signed up for that.

“I was seeing things, I was hearing things. I had awful thoughts, really dark moments where I thought ‘why am I here? I’m a burden on my family’. I’d lost my career, wasn’t working and was living on benefits.

“I had to retire and then became very insular and withdrew. My short-term memory became non-existent.”

Heaney claims the care he received while training and playing matches during his rugby league career was insufficient.

“We’d be given smelling salts, sponge on the neck, back out and play,” he said.

“After the weekend you’d come in feeling sick, dizzy, headaches. The treatment you’d receive would be a couple of paracetamol, and a hot bath. That’s not care.”

In a statement, Wigan Warriors said: “We are sorry to hear of the health difficulties of one of our former players. After a career in professional soccer, Roy played nine games for Wigan Rugby League in the years 1980/81 and we want to let him and his family know that he is in our thoughts at this difficult time.”

Salford were approached for comment.