Ex-CFL player, Ontario sports minister to donate brain to concussion research

Ontario Minister of Sports Neil Lumsden announced Wednesday morning that he will be donating his brain for brain injuries research.

At a press conference held at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Stadium at around 10 a.m. the ex-CFL player-turned minister announced his decision to donate his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation Canada (CLFC) to help advance brain health research.

The decision continues Lumsden’s ongoing advocacy for comprehensive brain injury legislation at all governmental levels.

The minister introduced Canada’s first and only legislation to address athlete’s brain health Rowan’s Law, which became law in 2018.

Lumsden has an extensive Canadian football history, playing in ten seasons with the Toronto Argonauts (1976 – 78), Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1978 – 79) and the Edmonton Eskimos (1980 – 1985) where he won three Grey Cups.

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The Ontario Ministry of Sports is also providing the CLFC with $52,500, who is also partnering with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) on a research project on traumatic brain injuries.

“Minister Lumsden’s decision to donate his brain and his advocacy for brain injury legislation are encouraging steps forward in our collective efforts to combat brain injuries,” said Executive director of the CLFC Tim Fleiszer in a press release.

Brain donations are crucial for the research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – a neurodegenerative disease linked to repetitive head trauma.

“For the first time in Ontario, this province-wide project will establish the patterns of, and risk factors for sports-related traumatic brain injury and examine its impact on mental health,” reads Dr. Jesse Young, CAMH Scientist and lead investigator in the press release.

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