Rugby league legend Wally Lewis has opened up about how his new wife Lynda is helping him navigate his battle with a devastating neurodegenerative condition – and the question he wishes he could stop asking her.
Representing Queensland in 31 matches, Lewis spearheaded the state’s dominance from 1980 to 1991, winning eight man-of-the-match awards before he was branded an NRL Immortal in 1999.
The 65-year-old announced his shock retirement as a sports presenter in 2023, after revealing he was probably suffering from the effects of a neurodegenerative condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
Lewis married his partner Lynda Adams last month, but the happy occasion in Brisbane was boycotted by his children with his first wife, Jacqueline.
While Lynda’s daughter was front and centre at the nuptials, but Lewis’s sons Lincoln and Mitchell, and daughter Jamie-Lee were conspicuously absent – with Lincoln attending an event a short drive away.
Now Lewis has detailed the profound effects of his early onset dementia diagnosis, explaining that those around him have noticed that he often repeats himself and hailing Lynda for being a rock for him.
Wally Lewis has spoken out about how his new wife Lynda (pictured together) has been invaluable as he battles a devastating neurodegenerative condition
In 2023, Lewis was diagnosed with probable chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – the deadly brain disease that’s associated with repeated head knocks among footballers
‘My partner Lynda has been fantastic through it, and has been very patient,’ the man known as ‘The King’ told The Howie Games podcast.
‘But the amount of times where I’ve seen this expression on her face – and same with Gene [footy legend Gene Miles].
‘Seen this expression on their faces. I know that I’ve obviously said something or said it wrong – and I’ll say to her “Have I already said that?”
‘And she’ll say it doesn’t matter. And I’ll say how many times have I said it, and she’ll say – and I’m putting my fingers up here – two, three, four, five times.
‘The embarrassment of being repetitive is not something I’m looking for, but to be honest I’m kind of past that now. I don’t worry about the embarrassment. I apologise and get on with life.’
Lewis then revealed that he had no idea how many times he’d been concussed throughout his storied footy career.
‘When I got asked by the doctor the first time, my answer to him was “are you looking for an average of how many times a year?”‘ Lewis said.
‘I dunno, fifty? sixty?’
Lewis and Lynda (pictured together) first became an item in 2021, devastating his first wife and the three children they share, all of whom did not attend his recent wedding
The footy icon has memory problems and says it’s embarrassing to realise that he often asks his wife the same question over and over
The rugby league icon said one concussion he remembers clearly occurred when he copped a serious head knock while making a tackle.
Lewis says he collapsed a few times after making the tackle and eventually had to be helped off the pitch by the team doctor.
‘I went to see him [the doctor] the next day and he said “Do you remember when I walked you from the field?”‘ Lewis recalled.
‘I said that I was concussed and he said, “No, do you you remember what happened next?”‘
‘I said, “You were walking me along and then you pushed me to the ground”.’
‘…He said you were pissing your pants. We had these white shorts on and he said he could see the urine. And he said “I pushed you to the ground because there was a camera coming up” as they always do when you’re being replaced.
‘I said I didn’t remember that at all.’
CTE is the progressive degenerative disease most commonly found in people who have suffered repeated concussions and traumatic head injuries.
The disease is most commonly associated with athletes involved in contact sports such as rugby league and AFL.
Symptoms include memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, aggression, depression and eventually, progressive dementia.
Lewis said he sought professional help after the tragic suicide of premiership-winning Cowboys coach Paul Green in 2022
There is no known treatment or cure for the condition.
Lewis says his first symptoms were fleeting moments of forgetfulness.
But these began recurring with ‘monotonous regularity’.
‘I was a little bit out of sorts, and then the confusion came, and then the denial,’ he said in a 2024 interview.
‘My best friends, my workmates … it soon became very obvious by the looks upon their faces.’
After 23 years of presenting sports for the 6pm bulletin, he had to stop.
While his bosses were supportive and made accommodations that would allow him to deliver packaged sports stories, Lewis couldn’t shake the feelings of embarrassment and failure.
But in 2022 when Paul Green, another Queensland State of Origin star, died by suicide and was revealed to have advanced CTE, Lewis knew things had to change and he made an appointment with a neurologist.
‘I had heard dozens of denials from former footy players, and I didn’t want to be another one of those,’ he said.
He received his diagnosis in 2023 and has been learning to live with it since.
Lewis now depends on his diary to help jog his memory and receives support from his wife, who calls him frequently throughout the day.
