Yesterday was a hard day for Justin. He started Friday finding out that he would be in lockdown all weekend because the Prison has a staffing shortage. This was especially difficult because it was also his daughter, Isla's 7th birthday and he now was unsure if he would be able to even talk by phone. Fortunately, Desiree was able to get the two to connect and the joy & love only a Dad could give to a young girl was shared.

The moment did create the tragic contrast of what life would be like moving forward for them all and gave Justin's partner, Desiree, an opportunity to reflect on the moment that changed their life:

"Justin has been my partner for over 8 years he’s also the father to our baby girl who turns 7 today and our two sons!

When Justin left the NFL he really didn’t know at all what issues there could be from his concussions and twelve years of collisions on his brain in NFL plus 8 more of high school and college. I only wish we would have sought help sooner. Having educated myself on TES/CTE I now realize the signs were there we just didn’t know what to look for until it was too late …. and that is the hardest part to deal with for me ….this could have potentially been prevented otherwise...
The point is CTE comes on like a freight train- that’s an understatement!

The changes are so quick and so severe you just can’t react to help quick enough otherwise you would.

Justin lost 6 friends to this yet still we could not see it in him. …

I’ve since then learned and I’ve educated myself.  He’s the best and I promise you all he is better out of prison w rehabilitation and medical treatment as he was meant to heal his brain and everyone else’s …. It is such an ironic tragedy that his whole life passion was to develop products to help heal the brain from sports related injuries, never knowing he would be imprisoned due to his own brain injuries before he ever had an opportunity to start. 

We continue to pray and hope for more about this horrific condition to be learned and discovered so that other families do not suffer the same fate as ours or his many friends before him. 

Thank you for your support and help bringing awareness and hopefully change as to how CTE is perceived and supported in our culture. Blessings to you all for what you have done for us and let's continue to get more support so we can help Justin and others as well get the care they need. Sincerely, Desiree "