By: Stephen Patterson
On December 17th, 2009, the Cincinnati Bengals lost an important member of their team family. Reports broke throughout the early part of the day that the Bengals wide reciever, away from the team due to an arm injury, had been severely injured in an accident involving Henry falling from the back of a moving vehicle. When the story of Henry's passing first out, there was a lot of confusion about what exactly happened that day. Today, there was some news released that may help shed some light on this tragic event.In a report released by the Brain Injury Research Institute (BIRI) of the University of West Virginia, it has now been confirmed that Henry suffered from Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is a form of degenerative brain damage caused by multiple hits to the head.
The scariest part about today's story is the fact that over 50 athletes that have died under mysterious circumstances, or earlier than expected death, have been found to have suffered from CTE. Currently, the only way for scientists to find out if someone has CTE is by performing special tests on the brain post mortum, meaning it is impossible to find the damage in a living person.
The BIRI's findings show that the damage to Henry's brain occured over time prior to the fall from the bed of a moving pick up truck. During his career, both a WVU and with the Cincinnati Bengals, Henry didn't miss any games and there were no reports that he had ever suffered even one concussion. It's scary to imagine this type of damage can occur to the brain without ever having a concussion, or any particularly hard hits to the head.
One of the thing's affected by the brain damage associated with CTE is behavior. Henry's mother and other people close to him have said he complained of headaches and mood swings, both of which can be caused by the chronic trauma. These changes in behavior could help explain Henry's state of mind when the tragic accident took place. According to a witness, Henry yelled "If you take off, I'm going to jump off the truck and kill myself".
Chris Henry is not the first athlete to have his life end tragically short in a death related to CTE. In 2004, former Steeler Justin Strzelczyk was suffering from hallucinations, and following a 40 mile police chase, died when he crashed into a tanker truck. In 2007, professional wrestler Chris Benoit strangled his wife and seven year-old son before taking his own life.
While it is not known how much force it takes to cause damage to the brain, actions need to be taken to prevent injuries like this from happening in the future. Football equipment companies will probably look to make safer, more durible helmets for younger children to begin using early on in pee wee and other youth leagues. As long as people continue to play hard contact sports, athletes will have to deal with the effects these hits take on their bodies, but hopefully action will be taken to reduce the damage that these athletes endure, especially to the head.
