Former footballer David May has detailed his fears for the future while appearing on BBC Breakfast on Friday morning. During the show, hosts Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty touched on the suggested link between dementia and those within the footballing world.
Due to this, the Football Association (FA) has introduced a new rule which will phase out deliberate heading in youth football games around England.
During their discussion, Naga questioned if David had headed the ball a lot in his career over the years, as David confessed he had, admitting the number was roughly 20,000 times.
He said: “I didn’t know anything, it’s only really coming to light now that this is coming out.” The 54-year-old told the BBC stars he’d like to know where he’ll be in 10 years time.
David commented: “Would I have the care from the governing bodies, from the PFA, the funding, that these families now, are not actually getting.”
Footballer David May admits ‘I’m worried’ as he details dementia fear -Credit:BBC
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Clarifying that David doesn’t currently have any symptoms of degeneration, Naga asked if he thinks it’s a possibility. He replied: “It’s worrying. Yeah, I’m worried, of course I am. I’ve got a family to look after. I don’t want my children looking after me day in and day out.”
Elsewhere in the interview, John Stiles, whose father was Nobby Stiles, revealed they had to sell his father’s medals in order to pay for the medical care he needed at the time.
Addressing the finances, the BBC presenter highlighted how expensive care is, regardless of the assumption that footballers have a lot of money.
The duo spoke about the link between footballers and dementia -Credit:BBC
David replied: “Care does cost a lot of money and the money that’s going into the PFA, is it enough money to care for the future generations, who one in three have a possibility of getting dementia?”
While speaking to John about his dad’s condition earlier in the interview, the guest revealed that they had donated his dad’s brain to Dr. Willie Stewart after his death.
After it was examined, the family learnt that Nobby had neither vascular dementia nor Alzheimer’s in his brain.
John spoke about selling his father’s medals in order to pay for his healthcare -Credit:BBC
John told the BBC presenters: “The disease that killed him is called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). I asked him (Dr Willie Stewart) how many footballers brains he examined had CTE, it was 70%. That’s what killed my father.”
Admitting it was lucky his father had medals they were able to sell to afford the expensive healthcare costs. John added: “If my dad didn’t have medals to sell, I don’t know what my family would’ve done.
“That is what is happening with families now. Football families, when they go into care homes, they’re in a terrible state. That is why we’re campaigning to get help for those families, who basically are in a complete financial mess when their loved one goes into a care home.”
BBC Breakfast continues weekdays on BBC One from 6am