Sport | Professional rugby player first in NZ diagnosed with brain disease CTE

Blues’ Billy Guyton (L) clears the ball during the Super Rugby match between the Auckland Blues of New Zealand and Coastal Sharks of South Africa at Eden Park in Auckland on 16 April 2016.

• Former New Zealand rugby player Billy Guyton is the country’s first known professional player diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease.
• Guyton’s brain was donated to the University of Auckland’s “Brain Bank,” where specialists determined he had stage two CTE, linked to repeated head trauma.
• Symptoms experienced by Guyton, including depression and sensitivity to light, align with those associated with CTE, prompting concerns over player safety in contact sports like rugby.
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