Unforgettable: Rugby, dementia and the fight of my life

Steve Thompson

In 2003, England won the Rugby World Cup. Steve Thompson was in England’s front row, at the heart of the match, and at the heart of the scrum – one of sport’s most violent battlegrounds.

But triumph came at a cost. Today, he remembers nothing about playing in that final. In his words, watching the tape back is like watching a ghost.

The years of hurt, and the culture of sucking up punishment and coming back for more, have taken a terrible toll. Steve has been diagnosed with early onset dementia, and serious progressive brain damage. Steve and his wife Steph had a happy family life planned, with decades ahead of them. Now he needs to capture these elusive memories for the sake of his children, before they disappear forever.

With stories contributed by his world-cup winning teammates and his former manager, Sir Clive Woodward, Unforgettable is raw, powerful storytelling. This tale of hope and courage stands as testament to the ultimate strength of the human mind – and to a man no longer pushing himself to the limit for competition, but for his own place in the world.

Bythgofiadwy: Rygbi, Dementia, a Brwydr fy Mywyd
Yn 2003, enillodd Lloegr Gwpan Rygbi’r Byd. Roedd Steve Thompson yn rheng flaen Lloegr, ym merw’r gêm, ac yng nghalon y sgrym – un o frwydrau mwyaf ffyrnig y byd chwaraeon.

Ond daeth buddugoliaeth gyda chost. Heddiw, nid yw’n cofio dim am chwarae yn y ffeinal fawr. Yn ei eiriau ei hun, mae gwylio’r tâp fideo yn ôl fel gwylio ysbryd.

Mae’r blynyddoedd o frifo, a’r diwylliant o dderbyn ergydion a dod yn ôl am fwy, wedi gwneud niwed ofnadwy. Mae Steve wedi cael diagnosis o ddementia cynnar, a niwed cynyddol difrifol i’r ymennydd. Cafodd Steve a’i wraig Steph fywyd teuluol hapus, gan fwriadu treulio degawdau hapus gyda’i gilydd. Ond yn awr, er mwyn ei blant, mae angen iddo roi’r atgofion anodd eu dal hyn rhwng dau glawr, cyn iddynt ddiflannu am byth.

Gyda straeon wedi’u cyfrannu gan ei gyd-chwaraewyr a enillodd gwpan y byd, a’i gyn-reolwr, Syr Clive Woodward, mae Bythgofiadwy yn adrodd straeon amrwd a phwerus. Mae’r stori hon am obaith a dewrder yn dyst i gryfder eithaf y meddwl dynol – ac i ddyn nad yw bellach yn gwthio’i hun i’r terfyn mewn chwaraeon, ond sydd yn ymladd am ei le ei hun yn y byd.