NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced on Twitter Saturday night that he plans on donating his brain for concussion research.
Why? What use is it to you at that point? I'm gonna donate mine. https://t.co/cBMZ8yIQuA
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) March 27, 2016
Earnhardt Jr. was responding to a Twitter user who tweeted him Sports Illustrated’s story on three former Oakland Raiders donating their brains to concussion research. The 41-year-old tweeted he plans on donating organs as well, saying he’s “donating everything.”
I'm donating everything one way or another. https://t.co/DQlVYJmHDc
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) March 27, 2016
Earnhardt Jr. has suffered multiple concussions during his NASCAR career. He’s been open to sharing his history of concussion issues, telling ESPN back in 2012 that concussions can’t be ignored, and need to be talked about more.
“I hate the attention it got,” Earnhardt said Friday at Martinsville Speedway, where he will make his comeback in Sunday’s race. “I hate being in front of you guys here talking about it. But I’ m glad I did what I did, took the time off, made the choices I made. I had to do it. I knew something wasn’t right. You can’t (ignore) concussions. It’s really dangerous doing that.”
Earnhardt Jr.’s openness to talk publicly about the issue should be applauded as he’s got a huge platform (1.39 million followers on Twitter) to raise awareness for concussion research. Hopefully, his willingness to posthumously donate his brain will inspire others to do so as well.
