Ben Cousins’ father Bryan has revealed he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease a year ago in an emotional interview that saw him break down while discussing the impact of the incurable condition.
A footy legend in his own right, the 72-year-old announced the shattering news in a one-on-one Q&A with highly regarded cancer researcher Professor Bruce Robinson on Saturday and explained how the first signs of the disease became apparent.
‘I was running along the beach and started to struggle. A bloke stopped me and asked if I was OK,’ Cousins said.
‘I went to a neurologist and I started looking at what I might have, and I got the one disease I didn’t want to get, which was MND, which I got diagnosed [with] 12 months ago.
‘I got teary mainly because I thought, “How am I going to tell the kids?”
‘I texted them on a Saturday and asked them to come around home on Sunday and we had a big cuddle and we discussed MND.’
Footy great Bryan Cousins is pictured with his AFL legend son Ben at last year’s Brownlow Medal ceremony. The 72-year-old has revealed he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease a year ago
Bryan Cousins broke down as he publicly revealed his battle with the incurable condition for the first time on Saturday (pictured)
Bryan is pictured with Ben after the West Coast Eagles star won the Brownlow in 2005
Despite the shattering news, Cousins – who is an all-time great of West Australian footy – found a vein of humour.
‘One of my granddaughters came out and she was really good. She said, “Pop, when you get in the wheelchair, can I go for a ride?”‘ he said, managing some laughter amid his tears.
Bryan Cousins stamped himself as one of WA’s greatest footy talents as he played 240 games for the Perth Football Club, starting in 1970.
He starred for Geelong in what was then the VFL from 1975 to 1979, before returning to Perth in 1980 and finishing with Perth in 1987.
Cousins’ awful news comes just days after the death of AFL icon Neale Daniher, who was diagnosed with MND in 2013 and spent the rest of his life raising money to find a cure.
Daniher has also been a source of inspiration for the Perth great, whose son Ben won the Brownlow Medal and 2006 premiership with West Coast.
‘The way he approached it and his courage and his attitude, one word kept coming to my mind: he’s a fighter and continued to fight until the day he died,’ Bryan Cousins said of Daniher.
‘I’m getting along, I’m still independent, but I’m looking at everything that Neale said and every six months is worse than the previous [six months] and you notice the little things in life.
Bryan (pictured with wife Stephanie) said he is ‘still independent’ as he fights the condition
Cousins said he has been inspired by AFL icon Neale Daniher (pictured) who fought MND from his diagnosis in 2013 until his death on May 25
Bryan is pictured in his playing days. He starred in 240 games for the Perth Football Club and 67 matches for Geelong
‘But because of all the amazing things that people are doing, I do believe we will find a cure.
‘Neale was the one person you thought who was going to beat it, and with the amount of money he’s raised – I think it’s something like $140million – I want to follow his lead.
‘He was never a burden to anyone … I saw him as the commander-in-chief of the MND movement and if we ever find a cure, it’s because of him.’
Ben Cousins was in the crowd during his father’s announcement.
‘That’s where I learned to love the game, watching Dad,’ Ben said.
‘He was my hero growing up and in many ways he still is.’
Bryan Cousins’ news also comes soon after it was revealed that NRL star Jai Arrow has been diagnosed with the condition aged just 30.
The Souths star has been forced into immediate retirement and showed that the disease is already impacting his ability to speak as he broke his silence in an interview with Channel Nine.
Arrow has revealed that he has travelled to Spain in the hope of accessing treatment options not widely available in Australia, checking into the SHA health optimisation clinic.
MND is a progressive neurological condition that damages the nerve cells that control movement, causing muscles to gradually weaken and waste away.
As the disease advances, it can affect a person’s ability to walk, speak, swallow and breathe, although it does not usually affect intelligence or awareness.
