England prop Joe Marler has “buried his head in the sand” over the dangers of dementia from playing rugby, admitting that on one occasion he had forgotten he had children.
The 32-year-old, who has played 83 times for England, made the admission just days after former Wales captain Ryan Jones, 41, revealed he was suffering from early onset dementia, probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
“It’s awful for Ryan to be told that and be going through that,” Marler said in an interview with TalkSport.
“It has kind of struck a chord with me because it’s been quite well spoken about in rugby over the last few years with all of the discoveries that they’ve had with concussions and the relation to it all.
“I’ve just buried my head in the sand, to be honest because it scares me.
“I remember getting knocked out a couple of seasons ago – a big, big blow when I was trying to tackle Billy Vunipola. I was out cold and the next thing I remember was being in the physio room and the kit man came in.”
The kit man asked Marler whether his wife and children were at the match.
“I just paused and broke down and I had no recollection of having kids and it just really scared the life out of me,” he said.