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Outlook: The sport I love damaged my brain

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Alix Popham and Mel Bramwell-Popham stand in the crowd in a rugby stadium

08/03/2021 GMT

The sport I love damaged my brain

BBC World Service - Outlook, The sport I love damaged my brain

Former rugby player Alix Popham can't remember some of his finest moments on the pitch

Alix Popham, a former top rugby player, is confronting what his doctors say are the devastating effects of thousands of bangs on the head.

From the time he started playing rugby at the age of four, Alix Popham and everyone around him knew he was destined for big things. He didn't disappoint, representing his country, Wales, more than thirty times during a long and successful career at the top of the game. When injury forced him into retirement in 2011, he became an entrepreneur and fell in love with an old schoolfriend, Mel, with whom he had a baby girl. But their bright future dimmed when Alix found out last year - at the age of 40 - that he has early-onset dementia, a condition his doctors blame on brain trauma suffered throughout his career. He now struggles to remember many of his finest moments on the pitch. The devastating diagnosis has rocked his family - and the sport they love. Alix and Mel spoke to Jo Fidgen.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com


Picture: Alix Popham and Mel Bramwell-Popham
Credit: Alix Popham

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