Former Bristol rugby star and Wales international Ryan Jones has revealed he has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, at the age of just 41.
Bristol were the final club of Jones’ decorated career with the former loose forward making 15 appearances in the 2014/15 Championship season before retiring in 2015, at the age of 34, due to persistent injury problems.
Over 17 years at the very top of the sport, Jones also appeared for Ospreys domestically and was capped 75 times by Wales and included on the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, but it has come at a terrifying and tragic price.
Jones was diagnosed with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in December; a progressive brain condition thought to be caused by repeated blows to the head and repeated episodes of concussion.
In an interview with the Sunday Times , Jones said: “I feel like my world is falling apart. I am really scared because I’ve got three children and three step-children and I want to be a fantastic dad.
“I lived 15 years of my life like a superhero and I’m not. I don’t know what the future holds.
“I am a product of an environment that is all about process and human performance. I’m not able to perform like I could, and I just want to lead a happy, healthy, normal life.
“I feel that’s been taken away and there’s nothing I can do. I can’t train harder, I can’t play the referee, I don’t know what the rules of the game are anymore.”
After being diagnosed with depression Jones, who retired in 2015, said he began to have short-term memory problems and was becoming forgetful.
“It terrifies me because I don’t know if, in two years’ time, we’re sat here and these episodes are a week long, two weeks long or permanent,” added Jones, who resigned from his post as performance director at the Welsh Rugby Union in October 2020.
“That’s the fear, that’s the bit that never leaves. That’s the bit I can’t shake off. Every episode I have also leaves a bit of a legacy. Everything we cancel, every relationship that I poison or don’t have time for anymore, just makes it a little bit tougher to cope. I don’t know how to slow that down, make it stop, what to do.”
Last month, the Alzheimer’s Society established partnerships with organisations such as the Rugby Players’ Association to provide a permanent way of referring any past and present player or manager who has either been diagnosed with dementia or is caring for a loved one.
Jones – awarded an MBE in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to rugby union and charitable fundraising – maintained he would not change his experiences of “living the dream” of playing for Wales. However, he believes the sport needs to do more to help take preventative measures. “It [rugby union] is walking headlong with its eyes closed into a catastrophic situation,” Jones said.
Last month, World Rugby extended their concussion protocol from seven to 12 days, ensuring that players who suffer such injuries miss at least one game before they are able to pass return-to-play tests.
Former England international and 2003 World Cup winner Steve Thompson is bringing a legal case against the governing body after suffering repeated concussions during his career which left him with early onset dementia. The 43-year-old cannot remember large chunks of his career, including England’s win in Australia 19 years ago.
