"Police said the death will be referred to the coroner and we have no further information or comment we can provide. Christie suspected he was suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disorder that has been linked in the United States to a number of suicides among players in the National Football League. The NFL in 2016 acknowledged a connection between American football and CTE. The condition can only be detected post-mortem."
"Christie had indicated he intended to leave his brain to researchers for study in the hope of making rugby a safer game. Without brain donations, we're not going to be able to identify how long it takes to get this disease. It's important to help the research in New Zealand, Christie said in a recent interview. Christie was a friend and teammate of Billy Guyton, who died of suicide in 2023 and became the first New Zealand rugby player to be diagnosed with CTE."
Shane Christie, a former Highlanders and New Zealand Maori rugby player, was found dead at his Nelson home at age 39. Police said the death will be referred to the coroner. Christie suspected he was suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) after multiple concussions and had reported headaches and memory lapses since retirement. CTE can only be diagnosed post-mortem and has been linked to suicides among American football players; the NFL acknowledged a connection in 2016. Christie intended to donate his brain to researchers to help identify disease progression and to make rugby safer. He helped establish the Billy Guyton Foundation.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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