The parents of Austin Trenum, a Prince William County high school football player who committed suicide this week, will donate his brain to a center that studies a trauma-induced disease found in more than 20 deceased professional and collegiate players.
The Brentsville District High School senior’s brain will be donated to the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University, his parents, Gil and Michelle Trenum, said in a statement.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is linked to depression and impulse control. An autopsy recently found the disease in Owen Thomas, a University of Pennsylvania football player who committed suicide in April.
Austin Trenum suffered a concussion last week, his parents said. Experts say concussions don’t directly cause suicides, but there are strong links between brain trauma and depression and other mental-health problems.
“We do not have any proof that his concussion caused this,” Gil Trenum, who is a county school board member, said in the statement. “However, we do know Austin suffered a concussion last year and one two days before his death. Football is a contact sport and he has taken numerous hits to his head over the past few years. Austin’s actions on Sunday were completely out of character. The only logical conclusion is that something in his brain was not working correctly.”
