The sport I love damaged my brain
Alix Popham, a former top rugby player, is confronting what his doctors say are the devastating effects of thousands of bangs on the head.
From the time he started playing rugby at the age of four, Alix Popham and everyone around him knew he was destined for big things. He didn't disappoint, representing his country, Wales, more than thirty times during a long and successful career at the top of the game. When injury forced him into retirement in 2011, he became an entrepreneur and fell in love with an old schoolfriend, Mel, with whom he had a baby girl. But their bright future dimmed when Alix found out - at the age of 40 - that he has early-onset dementia, a condition his doctors blame on brain trauma suffered throughout his career. He now struggles to remember many of his finest moments on the pitch. The devastating diagnosis has rocked his family - and the sport they love.
A longer version of this interview was first broadcast in March 2021.
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
(Photo: Alix Popham and Mel Bramwell-Popham. Credit: Alix Popham).
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