It’s a truism that in the midst of life we are in death. For whatever reason, be it sickness, accident or disaster, plenty of people miss out on a full life and die way before their early 80s, the current life expectancy in New Zealand.
In olden times, "three score years and ten" was the oft-hear phrase. Live to 70 and you’d had a good life.
Tragically, in rugby player Shane Christie’s case, he didn’t even make it to two score years.
Frequent bashing of the head, leaving the brain inside quivering and bruised, is a recipe for disaster. Unfortunately, our national game and its physical nature provide a perfect environment for repetitive head knocks and brain injuries.
It has been known for years that concussion is not just a here-today gone-tomorrow injury and of the risk it could lead to more serious and longer-lasting brain damage. Doctors have been warning of the dangers of degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Christie set up the Billy Guyton Foundation in Nelson to support and educate people living with head injuries. He also wanted to donate his brain to the New Zealand Sports Human Brain Bank to help future research into CTE, which he said some sporting bodies were refusing to accept seriously and do anything about.
CTE is a cruel prison for anyone. Its symptoms include memory loss, depression, paranoia and aggression, and it can only be diagnosed after death. Christie was convinced he had CTE, saying he felt delusional and manic, had experienced anxiety and fatigue, and had suicidal thoughts.
His death on Wednesday has been reported as a suspected suicide and will be referred to the coroner.
Guyton was the first New Zealand rugby player to have a post-mortem CTE diagnosis and is also believed to have taken his own life.
Guyton’s father, John, is angry and overwhelmed at Christie’s death and the response to CTE. He wants to know "how many more have got to take their lives before New Zealand Rugby is actually going to acknowledge it and actually help them?". He says NZ Rugby is a "bit hypocritical" for stating player welfare is its priority under such circumstances.
NZR said in a statement it shared the "deep sadness felt across the rugby community" and was committed to "leading globally in player welfare initiatives".
It’s true that the body has taken steps to deal with on-field concussion. There is the "blue card" system in community rugby if a referee suspects a player is concussed, a graduated return-to-play process, the Headfirst initiative of education and awareness, and acceptance of World Rugby’s head-injury assessment rules.
However, when it comes to CTE and longer-term brain injuries, NZR appears to be slow off the mark in accepting the problem, working out what can be done to stop these injuries from happening and how to support players who sustain lifetime damage from playing the game they love.
It is little wonder we hear these days of parents not wanting their children to play rugby for fear of the damage it might do.
The weight of evidence from around the world is that crunching tackles are not something to be cheered on or celebrated as part of the machismo of "tough" people playing a tough sport.
To some administrators and players, CTE and other brain conditions are an inconvenient truth, at odds with the fearlessness and aggression they find appealing in rugby and, in New Zealand especially, the legend and tradition of the warrior on the field.
Of course, more research is needed for definitive answers about what could be done to avert CTE and to find a way to diagnose it while someone is still alive.
But kicking the can down the road and not acting on what we already know is foolhardy in the extreme.
Hopefully, in decades to come, rugby will still be a big part of Kiwi life. But it’s going to have to change if it wants to thrive and survive.
