After spending years navigating the world of brain injury and disease currently surrounding and threatening the sport I love, I have found questions without answers, denials, lies and lawsuits. However, with my wife’s patience and support, eventually a path emerged that brought us peace and should provide hope to all those whose lives have been devastated by diseases of the brain. For every parent who has wondered whether they should allow their child to play football, or for every wife, son or daughter who has cried out in desperation, “what happened to the man I love,” this is a must conversation. It is our hope that by sharing the story of our journey to find understanding and solutions to football related brain damage, we will open a dialog that will eventually bring healing to the millions around the world who suffer from not only from this condition, but also other diseases and injuries of the brain.
Never stop searching!
Published by Larry Carr Ph.D.
Why faith and football? It's easy. Outside of my relationship with my wife, these 2 issues clearly define my life. They seem almost like opposites, certainly unrelated. My faith has always provided me a foundation that not only kept me moving forward when everything inside said to quit, but eventually led me to a discovery that changed my life. I actually played the sport of football for a relatively brief period of time, just over 10 years. But during that time I created memories and friendships that continue today, some 40 years after my last play. I loved my time playing football, but it came with a heavy price. In 2008, I was diagnosed with concussive brain damage, due to those years of football. My symptoms, which started some 20 years before my diagnosis, began with language problems and culminated in severe emotional and significant cognitive disabilities. At that time there was, and continues to be no cure or effective treatment for the disease, and so the symptoms progressed to the point where I nearly gave up all hope. It was the faith of my wife which eventually led us to serve a mission for our church in Boston. There, some 2,500 miles from our home, we found the answers we were searching for, the only place in the world where such answers could be found. This blog chronicles that search and what we found along the way. View all posts by Larry Carr Ph.D.
Football and the Brain 