Both former Washington defensive end Daniel Te’o-Nesheim and Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski have been remembered for their jovial personalities, incredible strength, and the acronym that has been associated with their deaths: CTE.
According to the Boston University CTE Research Center, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a brain disease which results in “progressive degeneration of the brain tissue” and is suspected to result from repeated neurotrauma.
CTE is currently incurable and only diagnosable after death, according to the Boston University CTE Research Center. Suspected symptoms of the disease range from confusion to suicidality.
Jan. 16, 2019 will be exactly one year since Hilinski took his own life. After his death, an autopsy revealed that while there were no drugs in his system, he did have stage one CTE; the lowest level out of four.
Te’o-Nesheim died with a “mixture of pills and alcohol in his system,” months before Hilinski on Oct. 29, 2017. Doctors later found that he had stage two CTE, according to an article published in the Seattle Times detailing Te’o-Nesheim’s life and death.
