‘Dementia scares me, footballers need more support’ | Global News Avenue

Former football player Dean Windass said he was scared of the future after the second phase of dementia diagnosis and hoped for more support for other players and their families.

The 55-year-old, who played for 12 clubs in his 19-year career, was diagnosed last year, and the news was announced in January.

Windass told BBC Newsight that he tried not to let the disease affect him, but “cried from time to time.”

“It scares me,” he admits. “I don’t know what the outcome will be. I’ll probably tell you a different story after interviewing me over a decade.”

The second stage of dementia is the early stage of syndrome, where people show very mild cognitive decline, which may include some memory errors.

Wendas said it was “emotional” for him when he was tested, and although he didn’t know what was going on in the future, he said he was trying to live as normal as possible.

He added: “There’s nothing I can do. You can’t roll back for a few years, so you just have to deal with it as much as you can.”

“Hopefully there is no development over the next five to ten years. It may do it, but it may not. So, you get up in the morning and live. You try to live a normal life.”

Windass, part of the Bradford City side, was promoted to the Premier League in 1999 and wrote his name into Hull City folklore, the only goal in the 2008 Wembley Championship playoff final.

He has also served in Aberdeen, Oxford, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United, which has seen him see over 700 appearances and scored more than 230 goals.

“If they said (at the game) you might have a shadow of dementia. I would go’ I wouldn’t go to that ball at that time.”

“I won’t do much in training…(I) may think twice before doing it.”

In his First broadcast interview Since his diagnosis, Windass has spoken frankly about the impact of the news on his mental health and family.

He said he believes his diagnosis is a direct result of repeated leadership of the ball and is concerned about his two sons, Josh and Jordan, who are both football players.

He explained: “I don’t want them to worry because I’m fine at that moment.”

one Research at the University of Glasgow 2019 It is almost three and a half times more likely to be diagnosed with dementia than the general population.

Wendas said he wanted to raise awareness about dementia and make the player union a Professional Football Players Association (PFA) to increase support for affected players and their families.

“One of the things I love about myself is trying to help as many people as possible in any way, shape or form,” he said.

“The reason we do this (interview) is to help our family because my family may need help in 10 or 15 years. So I don’t want them to suffer too.

“Currently, if I can help, or we can help people and push the PFA to help these people…that’s what we are going to do and try to achieve.”

The PFA said it invested more than £1 million after a group of 30 former football players and their families filed a legal lawsuit against the football dominant body in 2022 and claimed they failed to protect them from brain damage.

The Premier League has also contributed to the fund, which, according to the PFA, aims to provide industry-wide support for players with dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Windass is part of the Justice Football Family (FFJ) group, a volunteer organization dedicated to advocating for the rights and well-being of former players with neurological diseases.

The group also includes former Manchester United and Blackburn defender David May, who announced the Windass diagnosis.

He has said that he hopes to help others in the future by talking about this.

May said: “When I asked Dino if he could mention it, I don’t think it’s viral like it does.

“In a sense, it’s an absolute blessing because others can benefit from coming out of Deano and talking about it.

“He’s talking about ten to fifteen years, and he wants to make those plans in a 10 or 15 year period, so he doesn’t have to rely on his family and there will be caregivers to help him.”