LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Olympic gold medal-winning former women’s hockey captain Alex Danson-Bennett has been forced to retire because of a head injury sustained while laughing at a joke in 2018.
The 34-year-old Danson-Bennett, part of the British team that won hockey gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, had hoped to feature at this year’s Tokyo Games.
She has been suffering with long-term concussion since hitting her head against a concrete wall while throwing her head back to laugh at her husband’s joke while on holiday in Kenya.
Six weeks after the incident she was rushed to hospital with a suspected bleed, being violently sick and having seizures.
The effects have included a “loss of identity”, debilitating headaches, light sensitivity and speech problems.
Although Danson-Bennett returned to training in January, she has decided to hang up her stick having earned 306 international caps and scored a joint-record 115 goals.
“The challenge of returning to play…
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