TThis is a desperate time for the growing number of rugby union families, but a New York businesswoman poses herself as a point of reference and champion. As former rugby players and their families grapple with their diagnosis of neurological conditions, Irene Gottlieb-Old can say that she is there and continues to fight for support – or even a simple recognition of her condition. people.
Gottlieb-Old met former New Zealand defender Geoff Old nearly 20 years ago. He and his first wife separated after the death of their first son, aged 16, when Old was head coach of the Dutch team that played against England for a place at the 1999 World Cup. Gottlieb fell -Old fell in love with Old when they crossed their paths on the sports stage in Colorado a few years later. He was the technical director of USA Rugby but had just resigned, aware of a decline in his executive performance – and a compromise spike in his frustrations and, of course, his aggression.
We may see the Elders as emissaries, a former All Black and his wife launched from the US, where they tackle the concept of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) a little more actively than ever and more than rugby, newly introduced to the concept. , which now. “Sometimes I feel like we’re out of the future,” says Gottlieb-Old with a rue laugh.
If it is clear that the danger came from the mid – 1990s when the sport became a full – time professional pursuit, there are some, though far fewer, from the amateur era who were similarly affected. . Most of them may develop symptoms at significant ages of seniority, similar to those with soccer experience.
It is now established that more former players are living with dementia in soccer than they should. Does rugby do amateurs? We do not know. Only because we have not looked. Some amateurs should present with mid-life symptoms, such as the ones suffered by the players taking legal action against rugby governing bodies. The Elders think Geoff is a human being and have US diagnoses to support that, not to mention the long lasting experience of the last 18 years or so.
“I worked so hard to keep us together safe and sound,” says 62-year-old Gottlieb-Old. “I could only cry for 15 years. Most of all, we are sorry for each other. Slowly. It’s like ripping the Band – Aid out really slow. It’s hard to watch it and get involved. ”
A recurring theme in the discussion of dementia in families is the reluctance to enter data, which obscures the extent of family difficulties and makes the task of obtaining a diagnosis and subsequent support more difficult. That is the price of preserving human dignity.
Gottlieb-Old offers tips on common daily trials, from the low-pitched hum of executive tasks behind it, such as using credit cards or paying bills, to the more dangerous outbursts of rage and irrationality. When transmitted by person for a 6ft 4in international front-facing, the development of protective mechanisms is essential.
One of them is to go along with the delusion of the moment. When Gottlieb-Old returned to her home in Florida recently, for example, Gottlieb-Old made her half-hour on her way to a hospital appointment of her own, when Geoff begged in the car that she was going wrong way. It’s best to go with it and be late.
The Seniors now live in New Zealand. In 2020, between locks, Gottlieb-Old left her family in the US to bring Old home, after nearly 25 years away. They hope to get some support through the country’s Accident Compensation Commission (ACC).
Following diagnoses in the United States of post-concussion syndrome in 2010, cognitive impairment in 2013, early-onset dementia with probable CTE in 2015, and scans showing age-inappropriate atrophy in his brain in 2015 and 2019, he was shocked the Elders when the ACC arrived. doctors who saw them dismissed all of the above and diagnosed them with depression. One report described the former Ranfurly Shield and Manawatu team in the 70s and 80s who won a Provincial National Championship as a “short-lived rugby player”.
Old went public with his troubles in 2016, just as the New Zealand Herald featured a former opponent, a few years older, from Taranaki, who was suffering from dementia. He claimed their cases were at the top of the iceberg.
During one of the interviews with Gottlieb-Old in New Zealand, Old, now 66, wanders past in the background, before entering the camera for a quick chat. The way he closes his eyes whenever he speaks is remarkable, as if focusing angrily.
“They have ignored any issues we have raised,” he says of New Zealand Rugby. “From my 20 years in the States, it’s no different than the NFL. They sweep it under the carpet, ignoring it. It’s just to deny, to deny, to deny until you die. I can’t wait for them to get CTE in All Black’s brain. Then the shit will hit the fans. ”
That may be the brain one day. The University of Auckland has promised a new brain bank. Meanwhile, Auckland University of Technology (AUT) is helping Gottlieb-Old with its own vision for a support center for former players and their families suffering from traumatic brain injury.
Gottlieb-Old drew on his experience in business to put together a costed 25-page proposal for such a center. New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and AUT showed interest, but the first one threw it out in October last year, when a senior official in the organization told Gottlieb-Old at a meeting that it was unsustainable. It was a bitter low point for her. “So what do we do now?” she despaired. “I started all this because I need help. We need help. There is nowhere to go, no one to help us. Where do we go? He told me to call my GP. ”
AUT is still interested and also has plans for a research center. A site has been identified in Bruce Pulman Park in southern Auckland.
The search for investors continues. Hope is not lost NZR will reopen the proposed partnership, especially now that Covid is declining and NZR has received around £ 100m of investment from US – based private equity firm Silver Lake. NZR did not respond to a request for comment.
Gottlieb-Old only knows well about the soft value of those rowing points. In 2017, Old spent four weeks with the Eisenhower Center’s After the Impact program retreating in Jacksonville, Florida with former NFL players, ice hockey and other sports, all living with the consequences of a repetitive brain injury.
Old has evolved in a more equitable way, the benefits of shared experience and clinical support of self-evident value, similar to the Maggie Centers in the UK for families affected by cancer. “This is what inspired me,” says Gottlieb-Old, “because this is what saved us. One of us would be dead by this time. I promise. That’s what I want to duplicate here because I know it works. And it doesn’t cost that much. “
Meanwhile, Gottlieb – Old’s benefit from a support network of American partners and a likely CTE – influenced offspring, which she describes, again, as a life – saver.
In 2009, Cathy Carpenter, the daughter of the former NFL Lew player, introduced her to a private Facebook group of about 40 members called CTE Caregivers. There are now almost 800 members. Gottlieb-Old recently formed a new rugby group, consisting of nine former All Blacks partners with dementia, from Carl Hayman’s generation in the 1940s up to the generation behind Old Old.
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“These stories are being told or read by families every day. I am listening and it is only word for word, word for word, my experiences. I lost my forties and fifties with this. The little thing I can do is to help comfort someone and say, you know, me too, and maybe he’s not throwing past him.
“We need to help alleviate it, as people are walking around angry and getting divorced. And children do not like their parents. ”
If rugby wants a vision of the future that some of its players and their families may have, a New York businesswoman does not seem to be a clear prophet, but she is ready to help not only her husband but others on their way treacherously. murky waters.
She is, at the very least, facing the CTE rugby crisis and doing something about it.