Growing up, Nick Lowden always had a footy in hand. He relished the rough and tumble of a hard-fought game. Like many kids, he dreamt of making it big.
His parents, Kerry and Tony, could see their boy was talented, a team player and that the AFL was within reach.
What they couldn’t see, what no-one could, was what the sport he loved was doing to his brain. The knocks, bumps, hits and collisions were adding up.
“And now it’s too late, he’s gone,” Kerry says.
Nick Lowden died at 23. He is the youngest Aussie rules player to be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Tony and Kerry Lowden want parents and players to know what they did not know about CTE.(Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)
The degenerative brain disease, caused by repetitive hits to the head, has been found in former AFL star Danny Frawley, Richmond’s Shane Tuck and AFLW premiership player Heather Anderson.
But a growing number of young amateur and semi-professional players are now being diagnosed with CTE.
The Lowdens are telling Nick’s story so other parents and players know what they did not know. They say the AFL needs to take more responsibility in communicating the risks of playing the game.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-28/afl-cte-brain-disease-youngest-player-nick-lowden/106837650
Content retrieved from: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-28/afl-cte-brain-disease-youngest-player-nick-lowden/106837650.
