Earlier this year Aaron Hernandez committed suicide in prison after being convicted of one murder and acquitted of others. It’s now been revealed that he suffered from CTE, a brain disease that can be caused by traumatic injuries to the brain. This disease can cause people to act in ways they would not have in the past.
His lawyers released the medical information when they announced a $20 million lawsuit against the New England Patriots as well as the NFL alleging that the team and league failed to protect Hernandez’s safety ultimately depriving his daughter of the loving care of a father.
“Everyone, including and especially his family, is deeply troubled by this whole thing,” attorney Jose Baez said at a press conference.
According to Baez, Hernandez suffered from advanced Stage 3 CTE. Researchers said it was the most severe case of the disease they had seen in a person his age. He was 27-years-old.
— Aaron Hernandez’s fiancée thought suicide was a ‘hoax’ —
CTE is caused by multiple hits to the head and these injuries don’t have to cause a concussion to cause damage. The condition can only be tested for after death. It can lead to disturbing behavior, unstable moods and impaired thinking.
Hernandez was serving time for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd. He was acquitted in April of killing Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in Boston in July of 2012.
Five days after his acquittal he hanged himself in his sell.
The lawsuit which was filed on behalf of Hernandez’s daughter, alleges the league and team deprived the little girl of “the love, affection, society, and companionship of her father while he was alive.”
The suit also says that the NFL and Patriots “concealed and misrepresented the risks of repeated traumatic head impacts to NFL players,” and “needlessly delayed adoption of rules and league policies related to player health and safety with regard to concussions and subconcussive head trauma.”