Call for danger warnings to rugby parents over dementia fears

The son of a former Wales rugby international who died at 56 with dementia believes warnings should be given to parents when children start playing the game.

Ian Buckett played for Wales, the Barbarians and Swansea, and was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) - linked with repeated blows to the head - following his death last year.

His son Conor, 28, who played rugby for Egypt said he remembers wanting to "fix" his father as a young boy, and does not want others to go through the same thing.

In December the Welsh Rugby Union launched a scheme to help former elite players detect brain injuries.

"My dad in his very short life did lots of brilliant things - there are lots of different versions of Ian Buckett," Conor, 28, said.

"He was intelligent, kind, a big friendly giant."

Brain injuries have become an issue within the game with hundreds of ex-players, including Gavin Henson and Lee Byrne, suing the rugby authorities over problems they have experienced.

In a statement responding to one of those involved, the game's governing body said: "World Rugby never stands still when it comes to player welfare at all levels of the game, and we are constantly innovating and evolving to make rugby safer and more enjoyable to play."

The family are not part of the legal case, and Conor's hope is that in the future, there is an increase in awareness of the risks, as he remembers the man his dad was, within the game and outside.

Publicly, a fan favourite player, but privately a poet and a painter - the poet prop.

"He was a poet believe it or not, I have a collection he has written - and he loved to paint," he said.

Ian Buckett made 186 appearances across 10 seasons for Swansea rugby club, including against New Zealand and South Africa.

A solicitor, he played rugby for Oxford University, London Welsh and the Barbarians, and won three senior Wales caps in the 1990s.

The Holywell, Flintshire native later returned to North Wales and was involved in running Flint RFC and RGC14 in his post-playing days.

"He was playing rugby from a very young age at a very high level," said Conor, who added his dad was playing adult rugby at 14.

"All I ever wanted to do was follow in his footsteps and make him proud," he said.

However, when he was about nine, Conor remembers his father changing.

His parents separated when he was young, but remained close, and he added: "That's when he started to show symptoms - when I was very young.

"Basically over the next 16 years I watched him descend into a very dark place."

Conor, a fluent Arabic speaker, moved to Egypt with his English teacher mother and played for the Egyptian U21 rugby team as a 17-year-old.

He would return to Wales in the summer and at Christmas to visit his family and father.

He said he noticed how his father's condition was progressing on the long drives from London to north Wales.

"He would laugh and talk to himself - he'd be having a full dialogue with himself," he said.

"These trips got a bit darker as time went on - the laughing would increase, the talking."

Conor said he remembers as a boy how desperately he wanted to help his father, but did not understand what was happening.

"I think it's very unusual for a kid to be trying to diagnose his father - but that was just the reality," he added.

"A big part of my life became about researching and diagnosing him basically, because no-one had the answer.

"I wanted to help him, I had this fantasy that I could fix him."

Ian Buckett died last summer at the age of 56, he had been diagnosed with dementia and was later found to be suffering from CTE.

The NHS describes CTE as a brain condition thought to be linked to repeated head injuries and blows to the head, that slowly gets worse over time and leads to dementia.

"It's only after he passed away that we understood what this was all about - he had CTE and dementia," Conor said.

"It makes sense now.

"The fact he was such a brilliant man makes the last 16 years of his life so much more difficult for us as a family."

Conor has lived and played rugby across the world, including in Wales.

He is now living in Dubai, training to become a lawyer, like his father.

He believes parents and guardians should be warned about the potential risks of brain injuries before their children begin to play rugby.

"I don't want anyone to experience what I experienced growing up," he said.

He said he "loved watching rugby and playing it", but believes there needs to be a "total rethink" in the information given to parents and players.

"Sit down with the parents and say in very plain English, these are the risks - in your forties, you might not be able to work, you might not be able to have a strong relationship with your children," he said.

"It's a very straightforward thing to do."

In December the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), the Welsh Rugby Players' Association (WRPA) and World Rugby launched a scheme to support former elite players in Wales and help detect whether they had suffered brain injuries during their careers.