Who is at risk of CTE?
There are many different types of people that are exposed to CTE. Athletes, military veterans and anybody at risk of repetitive brain trauma are the main targets of CTE. However, CTE is dangerous to everyone because "It's a big problem for the [National Football League], a bigger problem for amateur athletes, and an even larger problem still for the public” (Study). Athletes, especially football players, withstand constant blows to their bodies and heads on a daily basis. NFL players are often left extremely vulnerable while playing and are hit in ways the human body cannot endure. The NFL and other football leagues are making new rules every year to stop the dangerous head to head hits that happen multiple times every game. For younger kids who play sports it is even more dangerous. Kids not knowing how to use their equipment properly put them at a large enough risk alone. Not to mention the larger size gap amongst younger kids puts them at risk as well. Military Veterans who have experienced loud bombing and brain rattling surges often develop CTE as well. The human brain was never designed to undergo such stress on a daily basis (“What is CTE?”).
Aaron Hernandez was an American football player for the New England Patriots who was diagnosed with CTE. After committing suicide at the youg age od 27, doctors diagnosed Hernandez with “‘the most severe case [of CTE] they had ever seen in someone of Aaron's age’”(Robitzski). Aaron was also serving a life sentence for a murder when he commited suicide. Hernandez's CTE was so severe that doctors said it looked like a brain from a person who would be 60 years of age (Robitzski). How was it possible for somebody with such a successful career to go down such a bad path so quickly? Aaron Hernandez's CTE contributes to all of these hardships and struggles in his life.
Another story that stuck out to me was about a man named Steve Miller. Steve was an amazing athlete playing multiple different sports with football as his best. In highschool he played for an extremely good team. Steve was a very small guy in highschool weighing in at 140 and a height of 5’9. Despite his small body he played all different types of positions in highschool and never missed a single game despite the five concussions he received in highschool. Steve could have had thousands of hits just in highschool potentially damaging his brain. Steve recalls one hit that even broke his helmet. He then went on to play semi professional football. In the time that Steve was married to his wife he got 15 more confirmed concussions from semi pro football, car accidents, a line drive to the head with a softball, and so many more, some in which he was left unconscious afterwards. Soon after all of these injuries, Steve's life started to fall apart. According to (Coping) it did not happen immediately either, “Steve’s present condition did not come on quickly but was more of a slow decline with so many symptoms that did not seem related at the time.” Steve started drinking a lot and making very poor decisions. After Steve went through rehab and one suicide attempt he was diagnosed with CTE. His family still deals with the mistakes made by Steve when he was not being treated properly for his disease. He is still alive, living with a personal care worker. Although we can’t be positive it is CTE because it will only be proven after death, it seems that CTE has contributed to Steve's struggles as well as Aaron Hernadez’s (Coping).