Almost by definition, few things are more tragic than the fallen hero. Whether age has wearied them or the years condemned. Whether through defeat or some catastrophic loss of the powers that briefly placed them in the pantheon, the Greeks had a word for it; Pathos. Elegy. Sometimes even nemesis. There is, in them, a touch of Icarus so far do they fall.
The sad tale of Ryan Jones, former British Lion and captain of Wales, revealed only last week, is a case study in the superman to whom kryptonite has been shown. 6’ 5”, 18 stone, and in tears because, at the age of 41, he has been diagnosed with early onset dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in “one of the worst cases” doctors have seen.
