A football injury so intense that it caused a former Indianola football player to take his own life was the subject of an Iowa Senate resolution Tuesday morning.
The Iowa Senate set aside Tuesday as "CTE Awareness Day". CTE stands for "Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy". Researches say it's caused by repeated head trauma, such as the impacts that football players often experience.
24 year old Zak Easter had spent six years battling its impact. He had six documented incidents of concussions, and, according to the journals he kept, probably lots more. He suffered from constant headaches, slurred speech, blurred vision and other symptoms of chronic head injuries. As the disease began to strip away his pride, Zak took his own life in December of 2015.
In a journal entry he left for his parents to see, he donated his brain for research of CTE. Researchers confirmed that he suffered from the disease.
His parents have set up a foundation to increase awareness about the disease. You can find more information at http://www.cte-hope.org/
State Senator Julian Garrett was the floor manager of the resolution, which passed by a voice vote Tuesday. He said Zak and his sons played little league baseball together and he and Zak's father coached little league teams at the same time.
The Easter family was on hand Tuesday morning when the Iowa Senate approved the resolution.