Shane Christie, rugby concussion campaigner who wanted to donate his brain, found dead at 39

"Shane Christie, the former Maori All Blacks player who had wanted his brain to be studied after suffering from the effects of multiple concussions, has died aged 39. The New Zealand rugby player had campaigned for greater awareness in rugby of the impact of repeated blows to the head. After retiring from the game in 2017, Christie reportedly suffered from headaches, memory lapses, speech problems, depression and mood swings consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)."

"New Zealand Rugby said Christie was deeply passionate about the sport and would be remembered always. Any time the rugby community loses a member it is felt deeply, New Zealand Rugby said. Shane's passion for the game will be remembered always. Our thoughts are with Shane's whanau [family], friends, former teammates, and community at this incredibly difficult time. Christie reportedly wanted to donate his brain to the New Zealand sports human brain bank for its studies into CTE, a degenerative disease caused by repetitive head trauma that cannot be detected in living people."

Shane Christie, a former Maori All Blacks player and professional rugby union athlete, has died at age 39. Christie campaigned for greater awareness of the impact of repeated head trauma in rugby after suffering multiple concussions. After retiring in 2017 he reportedly experienced headaches, memory lapses, speech problems, depression and mood swings consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Christie wanted to donate his brain to the New Zealand sports human brain bank to aid CTE research. He helped set up the Billy Guyton Foundation to study concussion impacts following the death of a teammate diagnosed with CTE. The death will be referred to the coroner.

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