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Shane Tuck had severe CTE, brain bank reveals ("Worst case I've seen so far.")
The Age
By Greg Baum
January 23, 2021 — 5.00am (Australia)
The late Richmond footballer Shane Tuck had the most severe case the Australian Sports Brain Bank has yet seen of the degenerative brain disease CTE, which was also found post-mortem in former players Polly Farmer and Danny Frawley.
“It’s the worst case I’ve seen so far,” said neuropathologist professor Michael Buckland, one of the brain bank’s founders. “It was actually quite shocking, the degree of disease he had.” CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) can only be diagnosed after death. The giveaway is a build-up in the brain of a protein called tau. “Once I got the tau stains back, it was the first time I didn’t need a microscope to make the diagnosis,” Buckland said. “There was so much tau I could see it with the naked eye.”
Tuck, who played 173 games for the Tigers and had a brief boxing career after he retired, was 38 when he died last July. Farmer died at 84, Frawley 56. “Those cases span three generations of players,” Buckland said. “What’s disturbing is that the worst case is the most recent, and also the youngest.”
Tuck was the son of Hawthorn legend Michael Tuck and his mother Fay is Gary Ablett senior’s sister. His diagnosis came as a kind of solace to his family, including sister Renee and brother Travis, and his wife Katherine and two children in Adelaide. Shane Tuck lived with his parents for the last 18 months of his life, and they watched his deterioration in anguish and bemusement.
“It’s the worst case I’ve seen so far,” said neuropathologist professor Michael Buckland, one of the brain bank’s founders. “It was actually quite shocking, the degree of disease he had.” CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) can only be diagnosed after death. The giveaway is a build-up in the brain of a protein called tau. “Once I got the tau stains back, it was the first time I didn’t need a microscope to make the diagnosis,” Buckland said. “There was so much tau I could see it with the naked eye.”
Tuck, who played 173 games for the Tigers and had a brief boxing career after he retired, was 38 when he died last July. Farmer died at 84, Frawley 56. “Those cases span three generations of players,” Buckland said. “What’s disturbing is that the worst case is the most recent, and also the youngest.”
Tuck was the son of Hawthorn legend Michael Tuck and his mother Fay is Gary Ablett senior’s sister. His diagnosis came as a kind of solace to his family, including sister Renee and brother Travis, and his wife Katherine and two children in Adelaide. Shane Tuck lived with his parents for the last 18 months of his life, and they watched his deterioration in anguish and bemusement.
Read more: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/shane-tuck-had-severe-cte-brain-bank-reveals-20210122-p56w3n.html
Background: His death by suicide in July 2020
'Struggled to fill the void': Sad truth about Shane Tuck's death
22 July 2020·
Heartbreaking new details have emerged about Shane Tuck’s struggles to fill the void after his AFL career ended, with his former club president fearing he was isolated during the coronavirus crisis.
The AFL community has been left devastated by Tuck’s death - the Richmond Tigers hero dying on Monday morning at the age of 38.
On Wednesday, Tuck’s father and Hawthorn legend Michael opened up about his heartbreak and lifted the lid on his son’s mental health battle.
“He was a big, strong kid and he just had a few issues and he couldn’t get rid of them and that was the only way out,” Michael told the Herald Sun.
“A lot of men think they’re alright and they’re actually not, and the best help they can get is telling people actually how bad they are, and not saying, ‘I’m alright, I’m alright’.
“It was bit like that (with Shane), he kept it all in because he was a tough, strong man. But you’ve got to show … it’s not a weakness, it’s just to express yourself with honesty and don’t try to cover up things.
“He didn’t mean anything by it, he just couldn’t admit he had a real bad problem.”
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Herald Sun journos Jon Ralph and Reece Homfray detailed how Tuck struggled with his life away from sport.
After 174 games with the Tigers, Tuck retired in 2013 and tried his hand at boxing. But after that ended in 2017, Tuck “struggled to fill the void”.
The AFL community has been left devastated by Tuck’s death - the Richmond Tigers hero dying on Monday morning at the age of 38.
On Wednesday, Tuck’s father and Hawthorn legend Michael opened up about his heartbreak and lifted the lid on his son’s mental health battle.
“He was a big, strong kid and he just had a few issues and he couldn’t get rid of them and that was the only way out,” Michael told the Herald Sun.
“A lot of men think they’re alright and they’re actually not, and the best help they can get is telling people actually how bad they are, and not saying, ‘I’m alright, I’m alright’.
“It was bit like that (with Shane), he kept it all in because he was a tough, strong man. But you’ve got to show … it’s not a weakness, it’s just to express yourself with honesty and don’t try to cover up things.
“He didn’t mean anything by it, he just couldn’t admit he had a real bad problem.”
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Herald Sun journos Jon Ralph and Reece Homfray detailed how Tuck struggled with his life away from sport.
After 174 games with the Tigers, Tuck retired in 2013 and tried his hand at boxing. But after that ended in 2017, Tuck “struggled to fill the void”.
Link: https://au.sports.yahoo.com/shane-tuck-death-new-details-mental-health-battle-afl-235305318.html