During a recent edition of Busted Open Radio, Former WWE Superstar Chris Nowinski was at the program as he spoke about his work with concussions. Nowinski, being The Co-Founder & The President Of The Concussion Legacy Foundation (CFL), would make it a career to inform people about and study the effects of concussions on individuals. During the interview, Nowinski would talk about how he sometimes has to call widows of recently deceased athletes in order to study on their brain.
The CLF is said to get about 5000 athletes to offer to donate their brains and the organization has already had their 700th brain donation in a span of three months. WWE Hall Of Famer Mark Henry, who is a co-host on the show and someone who has had multiple concussions in the past, would state on air that he plans to donate his brain to The CLF for research, as seen in his comments below:
“I definitely want to go on record saying I am donating my brain to the brain bank,” Henry went on to say. “I hope that something good can come out of ya’ll having my brain, maybe it’ll help with figuring out how things work in the future that will be benefitting my kids and everybody else’s kids. I know you (Chris) have a beautiful young baby girl and we always want the future to be better for our families.”
Nowinski debuted on WWE TV in 2002 but unfortunately had his career cut short due to post-concussion syndrome, which forced him to retire around 2003/2004. Since then, he has been helping with the discovery of CTE, while also providing a service for athletes and those in the military. He was also the lead advocate for doctors to research Chris Benoit’s brain after The 2007 tragedy that took him and his family’s life.
Mark Henry, on the other hand, has been with WWE since 1996, most recently taking on a backstage role. Before pro wrestling, Henry was a record-holding weight and powerlifter. Henry’s ultimate goal is said to spread awareness so that any young kid or athlete can avoid going through what other athletes have, as seen in his comments below:
“I hope that people realize that this is something that is not weird. What would be hard I think would be what you just said: after someone nearly passes away, it is hard to ask their spouse for their brain for science,” Henry continued. “I am a donor, I hope that I can help somebody live if something tragically happened to me. This is another way that I’ll be able to give back when I’m gone.”