#REVIEW: Truth Doesn't Have A Side by Dr Bennet Omalu and Mark Tabb

Title: Truth Doesn't Have A Side
Author(s):  Dr Bennet Omalu and Mark Tabb
Publisher: Zondervan
Published Date: August 8, 2017
ISBN:  9780310351962
Buy It Link: Amazon | Zondervan
Synopsis: One day in 2002 the fifty-year old body of former Pittsburgh Steeler and hall of famer Mike Webster was laid on a cold table in front of pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu. Webster’s body looked to Omalu like the body of a much older man, and the circumstances of his behavior prior to his death were clouded in mystery. But when Omalu cut into Webster’s brain, it appeared to be normal. Something didn’t add up.
It was at this moment, Omalu studying slides of Webster’s brain tissue under a microscope, that the world of contact sports would never be the same: the discovery of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. CTE can result in an array of devastating consequences including deterioration in attention, memory loss, social instability, depression, and even suicide. And Omalu’s discovery of CTE in the brain of an American football player has become the catalyst of a blazing controversy across all contact sports.
At the center of that controversy stands the unlikely Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian-born American citizen, a mild-mannered, gentle man of faith. It is fascinating that it would take someone on the outside of American culture to make this amazing discovery, and refuse to let it be kept hidden. Dr. Omalu began his life in strife, growing up in war-torn Nigeria. But his medical studies in forensic pathology proved to be a lifeline. It fed his natural curiosity and awakened within a deeper desire to always search for the truth. Who would have thought that such an unexpected character would play such a role in bringing to life this world-changing data?
In Truth Doesn’t Have a Side, discover the truth about CTE: Its causes and symptoms, how we might keep our children safe and guide professional athletes when CTE sets in. The problem of CTE is coming to light with each new story about an athlete’s concussion problem, and we are likely facing dramatic changes to professional sports. You’ll be inspired by Dr. Bennet Omalu a man driven by his love and concern for the welfare of all people, and his professional vow to speak the truth.

My Rating: 5 stars

My Review: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
There are books that come into your life that are life-changing. They change the way you look at the world, or an aspect of your life or society, and you are never the same after. Or it's a book you can't stop talking about with your friends. This book is both for me.
Growing up in the Deep South, football is life. It literally takes up over half our week, from high school Friday Night Lights, to Saturday College Football, to Sunday, Monday and Thursday pro football. Parents go out with their kids and toss the pigskin back and forth for hours. For some, it is the only possibility out of a life of abject poverty. Thinking that it could be a life-threatening sport that we are willingly putting our children in from single-digit ages goes against threads that make up a good portion of our society. Football is such a lucrative sport, I can understand why the NFL would want to squash this evidence that shows football can negatively impact a player's life.
The author, Dr Bennet Omalu, puts forth the situation in which he found the first case of what he later termed, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or as we lay people recognize it, CTE. He does it in such a clinical, and yet personable way that makes him seem very approachable and no-nonsense. He presents the facts, and says how he came to his conclusions.
During the time I was reading this book, it came out that Aaron Hernandez was found to have the worst case of CTE known at his age. It certainly explains why a superstar player like Hernandez, who was adored in New England, would get involved with drugs, murder (alleged murder, since his suicide in prison overturned his conviction), and suicide. It can also explain why OJ Simpson has done the things he has done.
I highly recommend reading this book to anyone and everyone I come across.