BMX legend Dave Mirra, who died in February 2016 of a self-inflicted gunshot, has been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
CTE, the degenerative brain disease believed to be caused by repetitive hits to the head, has been diagnosed in 90 former NFL players and in former hockey players and wrestlers, among others, but Mirra is the first action-sports athlete to be diagnosed with the disease. It was not immediately clear how advanced Mirra’s CTE was at the time of his death.
The Mirra family first spoke to ESPN The Magazine about Mirra’s diagnosis.