Adam Hughes
At 30 years of age, Hughes is the youngest of the players to go public. His diagnosis is thus different: brain injuries and post-concussion syndrome, rather than dementia with probable CTE, but the neurologists have told him he is on the same path as the others. If so – and little is certain with the brain – it is only a matter of time.
Hughes was a muscular, elusive utility back, whose preferred position was centre. He represented Wales throughout the age groups and made his debut for the Dragons, in Newport, the town of his birth, as a 20-year-old in 2010. He quickly established himself and was voted player of the year in his first full season.
In 2014 he moved to Bristol mid-season, before signing a two-year deal with Exeter that summer. He was unable to establish himself at the Chiefs and returned to the Dragons, initially on loan, in October 2015. He retired because of his brain injuries in 2018, having played 119 times for them.
His story, that of a rising star whose career started to falter, no doubt in part because of his concussions, is poignant, revealing much about the typical lot of a professional player. “For me, I think the biggest issue around concussions was attitude,” he says. “It was often treated like a weakness if you don’t dust yourself down and carry on. So naturally you see many players expert at just getting up and carrying on, regardless of how they feel. Ultimately, it’s their job, and no player wants to lose their job.”
Hughes is now a financial advisor. He is unable to pursue his ambition to be a professional pilot, for which he had gained a licence. Motion sickness is one of his symptoms, which prevents him flying. He also referees and is quick to react when he sees a head injury but notes with alarm the occasional abuse from coaches when he sends a potentially concussed player from the field.
Neil Spence
Spence is at the other end of the spectrum from Hughes. At 44, he is the oldest of the initial plaintiffs. He is also the lowest profile, but as such his case is poignant too. How many more like him may there be?
He played age-group rugby for England as an openside flanker, before spending his career at Leicester, Gloucester and Rotherham, making 32 Premiership appearances for the latter in seasons 2000-01 and 2003-04. He also played in France and represented Yorkshire, twice winning the county championship with them.
He was an RFU community coach for nearly 10 years and now teaches PE and French in a secondary school. He describes symptoms of cognitive decline that date back to 2012. One early example saw him leave home to pick up his kids from nursery but drive on towards one of the schools he was coaching at to set up a session. As he did, it dawned on him no one was there. It was half-term. Only then did he remember he was meant to be picking up his children.
Other typical symptoms include problems with his speech, confusion and uncertainty in the car and extreme mood swings. “I used to be the life and soul of the party,” he says, “but I feel that side of me is lost for ever.”
The uncertainty of his prognosis also eats away at him. He speaks of relief at the diagnosis but great fear over the future. “My neurologist said I could get quite bad over the next 10 years or it could be a steady decline over the next 30. The thought of not seeing my children grow up, not seeing my grandchildren or walking my daughter down the aisle is somewhat unbearable.”