Former WHL player Rob Trumbley's family believes concussions led to his death

Lisa Degelman's younger brother died earlier this year, and in her heart, she believes she knows what the cause was. 

"It was concussions," she said, "and their effect on his brain."

Rob Trumbley, originally from Regina, was a former enforcer who played for WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors and was a draft pick for the Vancouver Canucks. He died at the age of 50 on Jan. 13, and his sister says he died by suicide.

Degelman said that he spent his adult life playing hard, fighting often and battling the invisible wounds left behind.

Trumbley may have made his name in the rink as an enforcer, but off the ice, his sister says he was gentle and kind. 

She said they weren't especially close growing up, but reconnected more in recent years. Since his death, she's heard from friends and former teammates who remember his generosity.

"I had someone reach out to me and say, he [Trumbley] texted me and said if your daughter ever needs help in the movie industry, I've got connections," she said. 

Degelman said that even in his toughest moments, he rarely showed how much he was struggling. 

"He fought through it and, eventually, just lost the will when he was 50," she said. 

Degelman said Trumbley struggled with addiction and undiagnosed depression, though she believes those were all linked to repeated head trauma.

She said he got so many concussions that the family couldn't keep track, and that players didn't get tested at baseline like they are now.   

"A Friday night after he clearly got concussed ... Saturday night, he played again. And it'd be very rare in a game that he wouldn't fight or at least hit," she said. 

She recalled how symptoms slowly started showing up over the years: Light sensitivity, debilitating headaches, mood swings. Degelman said that in the end, it wasn't addiction that was the problem, it was CTE. 

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head injuries.