Recap of Michael Benoit on WLS 890 AM, & his reasons for speaking out
On Wednesday, September 5, 2007 at 5:11 PM EST Brian "NatureDevil" Lambrecht sent this recap in:
Michael Benoit, father of Chris Benoit, along with Dr. Julian Bailes, the Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at West Virginia University and of Sports Legacy Institute, were on WLS 890 AM this morning with host Jerry Agar and special co-host Illinois Lt. Governor Pat Quinn in what appeared to be them taking heat off of steroid use and placing it on brain damage as the root cause of the tragic incident involving Chris Benoit and his family.
Michael Benoit said the reason they were coming out now to do these interviews as well as the TV talk shows was due to results from three prominent doctors who found brain damage in his son. He believes this crosses the boundry from wrestling into other sports such as football or hockey where brain damage can occur through brutal athletics.
Dr. Julian Bailes said that when they looked at Chris' brain they found "extensive shocking changes throughout, and there are deposits of dead brain cells and dead nurons and their connections" which had occurred over time and at different points in time through Chris' career.
Jerry asked about steroid possibly causing these brain damage effects, to which the doctor replied with "there is no evidence in the medical literature that anabolic steroids would cause this sort of picture of the brain; that one day may be discovered but as of today our state of the knowledge is they did not."
When asked if Chris Benoit used those drugs they said they believe he did, but that it was not the cause of the brain damage.
They talk a bit about football and UFC and the kind of damage that can occur, as well as the "wreckless extremes" the wrestling industry today goes to. The WWE wellness policy was brought up along with the ten or so group of wrestlers that were recently suspended, and everyone seemed to know little about it. They also discuss athletes who have records of dementia from doing what they do, and trends of depression and abnormal violent behavior coming from people who perform in dangerous sports like ultimate fighting, boxing and professional wrestling.
Overall opinion: they wanted to take heat off of the steroid use and put it on the wrecklessness that WWE forces upon its wrestlers when related to possible reasons for the Benoit family tragedy.
Brian "NatureDevil" Lambrecht
Chicago, IL