Ryan Jones represented Wales from 2004 to 2014 and was named team captain in 2008. After suffering from melancholy and problems with short-term memory, he says he first realized something was wrong, and he now “no longer knows what the future holds.”
Former captain of the Welsh rugby team, Ryan Jones, has announced he is suffering from dementia at the age of 41.
In December, Jones, who contributed to three Grand Slam victories for his country, was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
The NHS defines CTE as a degenerative brain disease believed to be caused by recurrent head trauma and multiple concussions.
Jones, who has 75 international caps and toured New Zealand with the British and Irish Lions in 2005, discussed his diagnosis in an interview with The Sunday Times.
My world seems to be falling apart,” he remarked. “I am terrified because I have three children and three stepchildren, and I want to be an excellent father.
“I spent 15 years of my life pretending to be a superhero, but I’m not. “I have no idea what the future holds.”
“I cannot exercise harder… I am no longer aware of the rules of the game.
Jones represented Wales from 2004 to 2014 and was named team captain in 2008. He hung up his rugby boots in 2015 and will leave his position as performance director at the Welsh Rugby Union in October 2020.
In February 2022, he earned an MBE for his contributions to the rugby union and philanthropic fundraising at Windsor Castle.
“I was raised in an environment where process and human performance are paramount. He stated, “I am unable to perform as well as I once did, and I just want to live a happy, healthy, regular life.”
“I feel helpless since that has been taken from me… I can’t train harder, I can’t play the referee, and I no longer know the game’s rules.”
Jones told the newspaper that after experiencing despair, his short-term memory began to deteriorate and he became forgetful.
It concerns me because I don’t know if, in two years, we’ll be sitting here with these episodes lasting a week, two weeks, or forever,” he said. “This is the terror, the portion that never disappears. That is the aspect I cannot shake.
“Every episode I experience also leaves a small legacy. Everything we cancel, every relationship I poison or no longer have time for, makes it somewhat more difficult to cope.
“I have no idea how to slow that down, halt it, or what to do.”
The sport is “blindly advancing toward a terrible state.”
The Alzheimer’s Society formed ties with organizations such as the Rugby Players’ Association in June to create a permanent referral system for any former or current player or management diagnosed with dementia or caring for a loved one.
Jones stated that he had “lived that childhood goal” of playing for Wales and that the experience was “wonderful.”
However, based on his current experience, he said he would change things if he could and feels the sport must take more preventative precautions.
“It is rushing blindly into a disastrous situation,” he stated.
