Rugby: Former Welsh rugby player's wife reveals sobering aftermath of concussion

"It was horrific. Absolutely horrific."

Those were the harrowing words from the wife of a Welsh rugby player who watched her husband violently convulse after suffering a sickening blow to the head in 2014.

Kat Czekaj didn't actually see the incident that sent her world spinning when she sat with her two-year-old son in the stands to watch her husband, Chris, make his home debut.

But within seconds Kat knew something was horribly wrong when team-mates pleaded for help as Chris lay on the pitch unconscious and medics rushed to the scene.

"I remember just seeing the reaction of the players on the pitch and then I saw the medics. I knew something was very wrong," she told Wales Online.

"I could see his whole body convulsing. He had turned purple and they had to intubate him.

"You can't ever forget a moment like that. My son, who was only two at the time, was with me and Chris' parents and his aunt and uncle were also there."

Chris was rushed to hospital straight from the French rugby ground before doctors later diagnosed him with a grade three concussion.

But although his condition soon stabilised, Kat revealed the devastating aftermath of what followed with a desperate message to players who have slammed rugby as "too soft" in light of the debate around concussion in the sport.

Scary day that. Game has not gone soft... just can’t tackle people in the face... the context of how contact is made to the head is irrelevant... if you can’t get low enough to avoid the head then you should be penalised. Only get one brain 🧠 needs to be looked after 🤷🏻‍♂️ https://t.co/gT9XFZn5a6

— Chris Czeks (@czeksyboy) September 18, 2018

Describing the days that followed the horrible incident as scary, Kat said her husband became unusually angry, depressed, and forgetful.

"Chris was initially very groggy when he came out of hospital but the next day he was like a different person. He was distant, vague, short-tempered. He just had no patience," she said.

"He had always been such a laid back guy with the patience of a saint. This person was rude and that was so hard to deal with.

"One day I walked into the bedroom and found him sitting there just staring at the wall or the curtains. I asked him what was wrong and he just said 'I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing. I can't remember where the bathroom is'.

"I was scared. Scared about what the long-term implications of this were going to be for us all. Concussion is damage to the brain. It's irreversible"

The game hasn’t ‘gone soft’. More and more research is highlighting the full impact that blows like this is having not only short term but on long term health. You get one brain, FOR YOUR WHOLE LIFE, and everything needs to be done to protect it.

— K a t (@ItsmeKitty__) September 18, 2018

After two months of recovery, Chris eventually returned to the pitch and now plays for the English side, Bedford, under the coaching of Cardiff rugby legend Mike Raye.

Since sharing her family's story, Kat has regularly taken to social media to address recent comments made by top coaches and players including Ellis Genge and Leicester Tigers coach Geordan Murphy.

Offering an honest perspective, Kat pleaded that people consider the human impact.

"The game hasn't 'gone soft'. More and more research is highlighting the full impact that blows like this is having not only on short-term but on long-term health," she wrote on Twitter.

"You get one brain, FOR YOUR WHOLE LIFE, and everything needs to be done to protect it.

"Fact: Every time you're concussed your brain is damaged. And it's irreversible. And you need to know that, to hear it.

"We must have this conversation."

Earlier this year, a former New Zealand rugby player with a history of concussion underwent groundbreaking testing to provide researchers with a more detailed understanding of the long-term effects of concussion on the brain.

Studies are now being carried out across the world after the findings of the NZ Rugby Health Project were published sparking public and scientific demand.