BMX star Dave Mirra and former NFL pro-bowler, Bubba Smith, were diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), reports revealed on May 24.
Mirra is the first action sports athlete to be diagnosed with CTE, according to ESPN Magazine.
He was the first rider to land a double backflip and to win three gold medals at a single X Games.
Mirra died on Feb. 4, 2016, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 41.
His brain was donated to CTE research at the University of Toronto by his wife Lauren Mirra.
Dr. Lili-Naz Hazrati, the neuropathologist who studied Mirra’s case, said his brain was indistinguishable from those of former football and hockey players with CTE.
“I couldn’t tell the difference,” she told ESPN.
The BMX legend suffered a fractured skull after getting hit by car when he was 19. Mirra suffered countless concussions during his BMX career, and also did some boxing.
“It’s assumed it is related to multiple concussions that happened years before,” Hazrati said.
Mirra’s wife received her husband’s CTE diagnosis in March, and shared difficult and emotional moments in the last months of the athlete’s life.
“I remember seeing him sitting on our bed one day, in the last month of his life. I had just gotten out of the shower and saw him hunched over with the blankest lost look. I sat down next to him and held his hand. I said, ‘What is wrong? Are you OK?’ And he just shrugged his shoulders,” recalled Mirra of one of the incidents.
“He couldn’t even speak. He didn’t know. He couldn’t put it into words. He was lost. He was helpless. It was completely different from who he was,” she said.
Charles ‘Bubba’ Smith
In a separate case, former NFL player Charles “Bubba” Smith was also diagnosed with CTE, announced a brain bank affiliated with Veterans Affairs, Boston University, and the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
Smith, a two-time Pro Bowl defensive end, College Football Hall of Famer, was also an actor known for his role in the “Police Academy” movies. He played for three teams during his NFL career, the Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders, and the Houston Oilers.
