Former Wales captain, Ryan Jones, has revealed his fears for the future after being diagnosed with early onset dementia aged 41.
Lost Chord has recently resumed our interactive music sessions in Wales. We wanted to share this article which makes very sad reading. In general people think that dementia only affects people in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s but there are increasing numbers of people with early onset dementia. Ryan Jones is so brave to share his story and raise awareness.
Jones, capped 75 times and a member of the British and Irish Lions squad on the 2005 tour of New Zealand, received the diagnosis of probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in December last year.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Jones said: “I feel like my world is falling apart. I am really scared because I’ve got three children and three step-children and I want to be a fantastic dad.
“I lived 15 years of my life like a superhero and I’m not. I don’t know what the future holds. I am a product of an environment that is all about process and human performance. I’m not able to perform like I could, and I just want to lead a happy, healthy, normal life. I feel that’s been taken away and there’s nothing I can do. I can’t train harder, I can’t play the referee, I don’t know what the rules of the game are anymore.”
After being diagnosed with depression Jones, who retired in 2015, said he began to have short-term memory problems and was becoming forgetful. Read more from The Guardian article >
