A new book details the life of Indianola native Zac Easter, who took his own life rather than continue his losing battle against the traumatic brain injuries sustained as a young man, titled Love, Zac: Small-Town Football and the Life and Death of an American Boy. Zac suffered from CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) due to repeated hits to the head, and wished to donate his brain to science to help find a cure for CTE. Zac’s mother Brenda Easter has founded the CTE Hope Foundation, which searches for ways to identify CTE potential in concussed and sub-concussed brains, and aims to protect and defend against the long-term, ill-effects of multiple traumatic brain injuries. Easter tells KNIA News keeping the memory of what happened to Zac and helping others who are suffering is the best way to honor his life.

“We talk about it a lot, we never forget that memory. All the wonderful memories we have of him. But the truth is if I don’t tell his story, if I don’t use my voice to help tell his story, then in some respects I feel like I’m failing him. And it’s not like I failed him the first time because I didn’t, we did everything in our power to try to help him and make life better for him. But the truth is there is no cure today, there is even no treatment today that have been successful to end their suffering.”

For more information on the CTE Hope Foundation and the book, go to this story on KNIAKRLS.com.

In Depth with Dr. Bob Leonard with Brenda Easter
https://www.kniakrls.com/2020/08/13/in-depth-brenda-easter-with-cte-hope-knia-and-krls/

CTE Hope Foundation
https://ctehope.com/
Love, Zac book
https://www.workman.com/products/love-zac