These are desperate times for an increasing number of rugby union families, but a businesswoman from New York offers herself as a reference point and champion. As former rugby players and their families come to terms with their diagnoses of neurological conditions, Irene Gottlieb-Old can say she has been there and continues to fight for support – or even just simple recognition of her family’s plight.
Gottlieb-Old met the former New Zealand back-row forward Geoff Old nearly 20 years ago. He and his first wife had split up after the death, aged 16, of their first son when Old was head coach of the Netherlands team that played off against England for a place at the 1999 World Cup. Gottlieb-Old fell in love with Old when their paths crossed on the sport scene in Colorado a few years later. He had been technical director of USA Rugby but he had just stepped away, aware of a decline in his executive functioning – and a concomitant spike in his frustration and, inevitably, aggression.
