Former boxer works on preventing head injuries: “I don’t want anyone to go through what I went through”

Tragic stories that don’t surprise former American boxer Ray Ciancaglini.The 68-year-old, who today has difficulty walking and shakes both hands to speak slowly, suffered from head blows early in his career and decided to help future boxers not to follow suit. As an athlete, Ray began to lose his memory and realized that he suffered from problems caused by the repeated impacts of boxing. The man who lives with his wife today in a house in the small town of Romulus, upstate New York, suffers from chronic traumatic encephalopathy and still shows the reflexes of punches carried on for years.

– What was your question again? Ray confused in the middle of an answer to our report.

After hanging up his gloves, Ray did not end his fight. He launched a book and created a foundation of the same name, Second Impact, to show society the risks of head trauma.

– An athlete when suffering a skull strike needs to recover. Because if you suffer another in the same place, brain damage can become permanent.In some cases the brain swells up. And the fighter dies, ”Ray said.

In the book that tells his life, the former fighter says that he suffered from a constant headache when he was active, but when he consulted other boxers, he heard that this was part of the routine and if he couldn’t stand it, he would not be prepared to play boxing. .

For today Ray defends the opposite in his lectures, book and conversations. According to Ciancaglini, it is okay to give up a workout, a fight or even sports if signs of pain indicate this path. He believes it is possible to be a fighter and have a normal life after a career. Just preserve yourself.

“I don’t want anyone to go through this misery I’m facing.” Because that is a dearth. My dream is to see no one else suffering from second impact syndrome. Because you can prevent it. And the key to this is education.

The second impact cited by Ray is the punch that comes after a concussion or blow with some brain damage. Once the strikes are followed and the fighter does not interrupt combat or training, the second damaging impact may occur.

Late last month, Brazilian physician Renato Angianhh presented a study at a conference in Indianapolis, United States, about risks of head impact, and explains the “second impact syndrome”.

– Imagine that an individual with 10 seconds of fight suffers a first knockdown, which is not a defensive knockout, and is able to follow. He’s already fighting all the rest of the fight with a chance of suffering second impact syndrome, ”said the doctor.

Dr. Angianhh gives reason to Ray Ciancaglini’s advice when the former boxer warns of caution in training and fights. There are already 30 deaths in professional boxing in the last 25 years in the world, and a number still in study of former fighters with serious sequelae after retirement. The earlier you prevent yourself, the better.