Call for AFL players to donate brains to science

A Victorian coroner has called for AFL players to donate their brains to research the impact of contact sports, following the suicide of Danny Frawley.

Danny Frawley. Picture: Mark Stewart

A Victorian coroner has called for AFL players to donate their brains to the Australian Sports Brain Bank to research the impact of contact sports, following the suicide of St Kilda great Danny Frawley.

Coroner Paresa Spanos investigated the death of Frawley, 56, a former AFL player, coach and commentator in a car crash in Millbrook in September 2019 and found his on-field concussions were a potential contributor to Frawley’s depression.

Ms Spanos said a post-mortem analysis of Frawley’s brain found he was suffering from low stage (Stage II of IV) chronic traumatic encephalopathy — a form of brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head. CTE, which can be diagnosed only after death, is associated with mood and behavioural changes, and occasionally cognitive and memory impairment.

Frawley played 240 AFL games between 1984 and 1995 and was captain of St Kilda for nine seasons. During his career, he sustained some 20 concussions, including losing con­sciousness, severe headaches and vision problems. He was admitted to hospital up to six times for treatment for concussion.

“During these incidents, he experienced vomiting and was unable to lift his head,” Ms Spanos said. “Despite this, he always returned to the playing field the following week.”

Ms Spanos’s investigation found Frawley had a history of mental health issues and had experienced personal and professional stressors leading up to his death and an exacerbation of the anxiety and depression he had been suffering for five years.

Ms Spanos found that although the prevalence of CTE was unknown, studies suggest at least 17 per cent of people who experience repetitive brain injuries develop the disease.