“Things that are really hard to talk about. No one knows about the symptoms I am going through on a daily basis.”
This article was sourced from www.dailymail.co.uk
Michael Lipman is joined on screen by his wife Frankie as he is asked to reflect on the last 12 months. What follows is as painful for her to hear as it is for the ex-England flanker to articulate.
“My symptoms have got worse. I am constantly in a place of worry for myself and my family,” the 41-year-old tells Sportsmail over Zoom from his home in Australia, where he lives with Frankie and their children — Summer, 10, and three-year-old Joey.
“I fear for their safety. If any of my family was affected because of me, that’s the worst nightmare anyone can ever go through. I have good days but then there are really bad days where I scare myself because of my cognitive decline.
“It’s the day-to-day things that are worrying my family — like leaving the gas on and not realising.
“I’ve had two accidents reversing out of my driveway. Once I hit a telegraph pole. Once I hit a tree on the other side of the road, not concentrating. It was ridiculous.”
Lipman is talking about his decline because it has been a year since he announced he had early onset dementia and probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Last December, Lipman, his ex-England team-mate Steve Thompson and former Wales international Alix Popham became the first three of what is now more than 150 brain-damaged players to join a lawsuit over their sport’s failure to protect them from the risks caused by concussions.
News that they were suing World Rugby, the RFU and the Welsh Rugby Union for negligence was labelled a watershed moment. For all World Rugby’s platitudes since then, “nothing has changed” as far as Lipman can see. Sadly, the same cannot be said for his own deteriorating condition.
“It is the little things that are the scariest,” says Frankie. “I have to be careful because none of this is nice for Michael to hear. But his driving worries me sometimes. It comes to the point where you question if he’s got to stop.”
Lipman interjects: “It will be soon.”
As well as forgetfulness and lapses in concentration, Lipman suffers from insomnia and mood swings. He also struggles with his speech, which is partly why this is the only interview he has given in a year. There are other reasons.
“There’s a lot of shame that comes with brain trauma,’ he says. ‘Things that are really hard to talk about. No one knows about the symptoms I am going through on a daily basis. This information hasn’t been given to anyone.”
Not least because there are shamefully few people who have actually shown interest.
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“I’ve had two accidents reversing out of my driveway. Once I hit a telegraph pole. Once I hit a tree on the other side of the road, not concentrating.”
“There has been no contact from World Rugby,” reveals Lipman, who believes he suffered more than 30 concussions in an 11-year pro career, which peaked at Bath (right) and saw him win 10 caps for his country between 2004 and 2008.
“I wasn’t contacted by any rugby personnel other than my old school coach, Anthony Boyd, and Mark Bakewell, my forwards coach at Bath. This saddens me a lot. You spend so much time and energy with people and you think they are friends, but ultimately they are not. It is an eye opener.”
Lipman has needed friends more than ever in the last year. In September, following a spate of “manic episodes”, he checked himself into a mental health clinic.
“There are days when I can’t get out of bed,” he says. “I was in a dark place a few months ago, so I enrolled at a clinic for two weeks to get some psychiatric help. I’m still extremely irritable, impatient and get agitated very quickly at the smallest of things. However, I was able to learn strategies to cope better with certain triggers.”
Lipman wants to help other patients and protect the next generation of players. He leads a support group for people with probable CTE called ‘Concussion Connect’, while he and his wife are working on a project to raise money for greater research into brain trauma.
Lipman, who runs a “paint and sip” — art classes with wine — franchise with Frankie, has also enrolled on two university courses about dementia and traumatic brain injury, to start next year.
“I want as much knowledge as I can get about what’s happening to me,” he says. “I can’t control the outcome but the more understanding I have, the better I can lobby for positive change.”
Since Lipman and others launched their ongoing legal action last year, World Rugby have made plenty of noise but taken little meaningful action.
The governing body advised clubs to limit full-contact training to 15 minutes per week. However, they did not make it mandatory.
“That doesn’t do anything,” says Lipman. “A coach is going to coach the way he wants and if that is contact during training, there is nothing that says they can’t do that. It needs to be mandatory.”
The RFU, meanwhile, announced an action plan in July, including using specialist mouth guards in the Premiership to collect data on head impacts and setting up an advanced brain health clinic for retired players.
World Rugby have also commissioned studies examining the effects of fewer replacements and lower tackle heights. But they undermined their own work last month when they claimed concussion is just one of 12 ‘modifiable risk factors’ — along with alcohol and smoking — that can lead to dementia.
“My clinician, Dr Rowena Mobbs, called their response “medical gaslighting” and I echo her opinion,” says Lipman.
Frankie adds: “For World Rugby to say that, to diminish the effect of repetitive head trauma, is highly disappointing. They should sit in groups like Michael goes to, immerse themselves in what is actually happening and what these real life symptoms are, but no one has reached out.”
Given this frustration, Lipman’s answer to one final question is sad but not surprising. Would he ever want his children to play rugby?
“There would have to be some significant change for us to let our kids play,” he says.
Coming from a former England international, it is a statement which should ring alarm bells for rugby’s rulemakers.
“There would have to be some significant change for us to let our kids play.”