It is the first time the disease, which has been found in late former NFL players, has been diagnosed in a mixed martial artist, the Globe reported.
The Globe learned of the diagnosis from Dr. Bennet Omalu, who first discovered the disease in a former football player in 2002 and was the subject of the 2015 film “Concussion.”
Parsons, 25, died May 4 after he was struck by an SUV as he was crossing a major highway in Delray Beach during the early hours of May 1. Omalu said it was “impossible” for Parsons’ CTE to have been caused by the accident.
CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain found in athletes with a history of repetitive brain trauma, including concussions.
A Boca Raton man was arrested on May 7 and charged over the hit-and-run crash, in which he was alleged to have been driving his mother’s Range Rover Sport on a suspended license at speeds of 116 mph.
Police said friends of Dennis Michael Wright, 28, urged him not to drive that night after he had spent the day at Sunfest and then visited bars in Delray.
Parsons’ family has filed a wrongful death suit against Wright, who was denied reduced bond in August and is on home confinement.
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