Dave Mirra Diagnosed with CTE Following Death

Longtime BMX star Dave Mirra was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy based on a brain evaluation by a Toronto neuropathologist following his apparent suicide in February. 

Alyssa Roenigk of ESPN The Magazine reported that the CTE findings by Dr. Lili-Naz Hazrati, which were similar to those of former football and hockey players, have since been confirmed by other neuropathologists.

The report noted Mirra becomes the first action sports athlete publicly diagnosed with the degenerative disease and included comments from Hazrati about the findings. The results from the BMX rider and those who played violent contact sports were virtually the same.

"I couldn't tell the difference," she told ESPN The Magazine. "The trauma itself defines the disease, not how you got the trauma."

Hazrati added: "It validates what we have been thinking about brain injuries in boxers and football players. The key is brain injury. Regardless of how you get it, through BMX or hockey, you are at risk for this."

Mirra's wife, Lauren, described for ESPN The Magazine the changes she witnessed before his death and what she hopes will come from his diagnosis:

"

I started to notice changes in his mood. And then it quickly started to get worse. He wasn't able to be present in any situation or conversation, so it was hard to be in a relationship with him to any degree. He was lost. I looked straight through him on a few occasions. And I was like, "Where are you? Where are you? What is wrong?"

This is the beginning of bringing awareness. It would be amazing if this is something we can detect in life one day. If we can detect it, prevent it, stop it, let's do all of the above.

"

This is merely the latest example of the widespread impact of head injuries in former athletes. Jason M. Breslow of PBS reported last September a study by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University showed 96 percent (87 of 91) of former NFL players studied tested positive for CTE.

Michael Drapack of CBC Sports reported in February that more than 100 former NHL players filed a lawsuit stating the league should have known about the long-term impact of head injuries and failed to educate players about the risk.

Mirra, 41, was found Feb. 4 with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, per Jason Hanna of CNN.