Rianna with Matthew Onyshko on ALS, CTE, Head Trauma and Football

This episode is Part 1 of 2 where we discuss how head impacts in contact sports affect the brain and disease formation. Part 2 is with Dr. Thor Stein, MD, PhD from The SLI BU CTE Brain Bank.

Matthew Onyshko is a former NCAA Division 2 football athlete who is battling a condition called CTE ALS.  Officially a CTE diagnosis cannot be determined until after death yet this is what Matthew's doctors suspect he has.  I found out that Matt had ALS when I saw him on the Ellen Degeneres show. Ellen highlighted Matt’s story because his amazing Firefighting team worked extra shifts to cover Matt’s salary after he was no longer able to work due to his progressing ALS disease.

Matt believes his ALS disease is due to playing Football in College. Matt would like to share his story and his experience in the hopes that we can do better in sport, specifically in contact sports like football. He hopes sport organizations, and those involved in the organizations, do better with the research that is currently available. This is Matt's story...

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Fact Check links:

Information about how President Roosevelt Influenced Football

NCAA Student Athlete Medical Insurance Legislation

NFL Retirement Information

"The First Concussion Crisis" Article From: The National Centre for Biotechnology Information