Former Highlanders, Mako and Māori All Blacks loose forward Shane Christie has died in Nelson aged 39.
He played eight matches for the Māori All Blacks, 29 matches for the Highlanders and 73 for Tasman, captaining the Mako to the ITM Championship in 2013.
His career ended in 2017, having suffered ongoing concussion problems.
Christie was an advocate for a focus on the damage repeated head injuries can have, helping to set up the Billy Guyton Foundation.
Guyton, a close friend and teammate, was found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a brain study carried out following his death in 2023. He was the first professional New Zealand-based rugby player confirmed to have the disease.
CTE is a degenerative brain disease that can currently only be diagnosed after death.
Christie told 1News earlier this year he was worried he also had CTE.
Scientists studying the brains of rugby players have made a breakthrough that could potentially allow CTE to be diagnosed in living players. (Source: 1News)
“When your symptoms are really bad for months and months and months, when you’re in it, you don’t know if you’re going to come out.”
He said it was something rugby players could be educated on earlier in their career.
“This is what you’re setting yourself up for, this is how you can manage it, these are the dangers of concussion.”
He had previously pledged to donate his brain to the New Zealand Sports Human Brain Bank.
Tasman Rugby chief executive Steve Mitchell told the Nelson App he was shaken by the news of Christie’s death.
“I’m shocked and really sad. My concerns are for his family. I’m gutted.”
