Former rugby star Wally Lewis urges Australian government to fund CTE support services

Rugby player Chris Robinson was playing a game when he used a tackle as an excuse to stay down — causing his girlfriend Amanda Tuckwell to rush onto the field and see what happened. He then got on one knee and proposed.

A legendary rugby player has cited the fear and anxiety that has come into his life among the reasons for urging the Australian government to fund support services and education about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

Wally Lewis, dubbed "The King" when he played rugby league for Queensland state and Australia in the 1980s, made an appeal on behalf of the Concussion and CTE Coalition for millions of dollars in funding during a National Press Club address Tuesday.

The 64-year-old Lewis said he’s living with probable CTE, which he described as a type of dementia associated with repeated concussive and sub-concussive blows to the head.

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Lewis, who worked for decades as a television sports anchor after retiring as a player in the early 1990s, relayed his own experience to get his message across.

Former Australian rugby league player Wally Lewis, addresses the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia, on April 23, 2024. Lewis, a legendary rugby player of the 1980s has cited the fear and anxiety that has come into his life among the reason for urging the Australian government to fund support services and education about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)

"The fear is real. I don’t want anyone to have to live with the fear and anxiety that I live with every day, worried about what I’ve forgotten ... the fear of what my future will look like," Lewis said. "And living with the constant