Family of Junior Seau Will Donate His Brain for Study
In the wake of NFL icon Junior Seau's tragic suicide, his family announced their decision Thursday night to donate the former linebacker’s brain to researchers who will study whether he suffered brain injuries from his many years on the football field.
Writes the Los Angeles Times:
[San Diego Chargers chaplain Shawn] Mitchell said the family came to the decision to allow Seau's brain to be studied "to help other individuals down the road."
There are similarities between the deaths of Seau and former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest last year. In a suicide note, Duerson had asked his family to donate his brain to the Boston University School of Medicine.
Researchers from that school later determined that Duerson suffered from a neurodegenerative disease linked to concussions, and that played a role in triggering his depression.
Read the full story here.
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(Photo: AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File)