Vincent Jackson was found dead in a hotel room back in February and his family felt the debilitating effects of CTE contributed to his death.
Today they say they have proof of that claim as brain researchers made the long-awaited diagnosis.
“Vincent dedicated so much of his life to helping others. Even in his passing, I know he would want to continue that same legacy,” said Lindsey Jackson, Vincent’s widow, in a statement. “By donating his brain to the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank, we hope to continue to see advancements in CTE research, enabling physicians to diagnose the disease in the living and ultimately find treatment options in the future.”
Jackson’s body was found by a hotel housekeeper in Florida, and the Sherriff of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office told reporters that he suffered from chronic alcoholism.
“Unfortunately, he suffered from chronic alcoholism. Again, just tragic,” said Sherriff Chad Chronister at the time. “We haven’t gotten the toxicology report back, so can’t say with any certainty that was it. But a lot of longstanding health conditions that contributed to his passing because of some alcohol abuse.”
Jackson’s family refuted his claim and wanted to wait for the autopsy. But they did note that his behavior had changed so they donated his brain to the Boston University CTE center to be examined.
Now the family has learned that Jackson was suffering from stage 2 CTE.
“Vincent Jackson was a brilliant, disciplined, gentle giant whose life began to change in his mid-30s,” said Dr. Ann McKee, chief of neuropathology for the VA Boston Healthcare System and director of the BU CTE Center and VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank, in the family’s statement. “He became depressed, with progressive memory loss, problem solving difficulties, paranoia, and eventually extreme social isolation.”
“That his brain showed stage 2 CTE should no longer surprise us; these results have become commonplace,” continued McKee. “What is surprising is that so many football players have died with CTE and so little is being done to make football, at all levels, safer by limiting the number of repetitive subconcussive hits. CTE will not disappear by ignoring it, we need to actively address the risk that football poses to brain health and to support the players who are struggling.”
This is the same diagnosis given to the brain of Phillips Adams earlier this week.
On April 7th, Adams shot and killed six people before killing himself. There was no obvious connection between Adams and his victims, but his family had said that his behavior had deteriorated, he ignored his personal hygiene and he was becoming more volatile.
Turns out, according to Dr. McKee, Adams suffered from an “unusually severe” case of stage 2 CTE, which includes symptoms such as aggression, impulsivity, explosivity, depression, paranoia, anxiety, poor executive function and memory loss.
Jackson’s family hopes that by revealing Vincent had stage 2 CTE, it can bring more awareness to the disease and increase the help and support for the athletes suffering from it.
“The conversation around this topic needs to be more prevalent, and our family hopes that others will feel comfortable and supported when talking about CTE moving forward,” said Lindsey Jackson.
And while it’s too late for men like Junior Seau, Phillip Adams, Vincent Jackson and their families, their brains could help future victims from suffering the same pain.
