Luca Health

Loved being a part of the brilliant 'Ahead of the Game' event hosted by Sam Peters at St Paul's School last week. If you want to learn more about what we're doing at Luca Health to support schools and to protect pupils from the effects of head injuries, check out the video below. Great to share the stage with Alison Kervin OBE, Sam Smith, Tom Kohler-Cadmore & David Bartlett. I was super encouraged by how many people care deeply about the future of school sport. Sport is so incredibly formative. It develops shy children into leaders, winning and losing together sets you up brilliantly for the real world, and genuine life long bonds are formed. We just need to make it safer, so these benefits are fully reaped by the current and future generations of youngsters.

My nickname when I played for Northampton Saints was Bamm-Bamm, of Flintstones fame. I ran around like a headless chicken, annoyed the hell out of the senior players for going too hard and generally had complete disregard for my body. My time in pro rugby didn't last long, just a couple of seasons, because of numerous injuries caused by bulking up too quickly. For a long time, I was resentful of my experience and how I was treated. With everything we now know about concussion and the cumulative effects of repetitive head knocks, I now count myself fortunate and that I potentially dodged a bit of a bullet. I would absolutely have been a prime candidate had my career lasted longer, and who knows, I might well still be affected. I've been incredibly saddened to follow the stories of Stephen Thompson MBE & Alix Popham, to name just two. There are hundreds. They had no idea what they were being exposed to, and nor did I. I have tremendous sympathy for all affected and can't imagine what a diagnosis of early onset dementia in your early 40s must feel like. Alix has turned his devastating diagnosis into a force for good through the charity he founded with his wife Melanie Bramwell-Popham & @sally tucker, Head For Change. The Charity does sterling work to support former pro rugby players and footballers who are living with the reality of a neurodegenerative disease. There's still so much we don't know and that's why we need to raise money to fund much needed research. So there we are, I'm running the Boston marathon in April. 26.1 miles through a city that's the global leader for brain health research and I'd be incredibly grateful for anything that you might be able to give to support this wonderful charity. Donating ￡2.61 is less than the cost of a cup of coffee, but if you have the means, ￡26.1 would be incredible to help support those affected, and to help us find a way to make sport safer, for all. Fundraising page (full story) in the comments. Thank you so much! P.S. Thought I'd post a photo of Bamm-Bamm ??♂?.

Excited to be speaking at this next Wednesday! ?? If you have even a passing interest in school sport, athlete welfare and keeping the sports we all love viable for the future, this is the event for you ?? Come along to hear from an excellent roster of speakers, including leading lights from the medical world, pro sport and the media. Tickets in the comments section - who fancies it? ?? St Paul's School, Luca Health, Your Brain Health, Head For Change, Concussed Media ??????

Less than a month to go before Concussed Media's inaugural Ahead of the Game event in partnership with St Paul's School Luca Health and Your Brain Health. The event is shaping up superbly with an amazing array of world-class speakers confirmed including Cath Bishop Mike Loosemore Dr Lisa Ryan (RNutr) Tom Kohler-Cadmore Professor Willie Stewart David Bartlett Nick Greenhalgh Sam Smith with more still to be announced. The evening will be hosted by myself alongside my dear friend and former boss at the Mail on Sunday Alison Kervin OBE. With just a handful of public tickets left on sale, don't miss out on your chance to join us for what is set to be a fantastic evening exploring the future of safer participation in sport. For information on how to book tickets, become a commercial partner or win a signed copy of my award-winning book CONCUSSED please sign up to our newsletter below or message me, Deborah Spencer or Mark O. Hudson directly. https://lnkd.in/egrtEWph

Very proud that Luca Health is sponsoring Sam Peters' 'Ahead of the Game' event at St Paul's School in London on 12th Feb. There's arguably never been a more interesting or necessary time to discuss what the future of sport in schools looks like. Grab your tickets by clicking on the link in the comments section below before they sell out. Excited to be sharing my two cents on how sport can be made safer alongside some brilliant and incredibly well-informed fellow speakers: Mike Loosemore, Prof Willie Stewart, Cath Bishop, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Dr Lisa Ryan (RNutr), David Bartlett, Bill Ribbans, Sam Smith, Alison Kervin OBE

Huge thanks to Sam Peters for asking us (Luca Health) to contribute to his fantastic piece on the 'future of schools rugby' in the latest edition of the Rugby World magazine. School rugby is almost unrecognisable from the game I remember playing 16 years ago at Uppingham School. So much of that change has been for the better: more structure, talent from 1-15 as well as the sheer speed of play. But with that evolution has come its own challenges and player welfare has been well documented, largely as a result of players bulking up and mimicking the collision based tactics of the professional game. Whilst there's room for improvement, I've been tremendously encouraged by all of my conversations with schools over the past several months. Schools fundamentally understand their responsibility to make the sport as safe as they can, whilst also acknowledging that sports like rugby will never be risk free, and that's also perfectly fine. I, for one, am very positive on the future of the school game in this country. #playerwelfare #concussion #school