Chance meeting in Harborough with former premiership rugby player leads to new 'groundbreaking' invention

A chance meeting with a former premiership rugby player in Harborough has led to a ‘groundbreaking’ new invention which has been approved by World Rugby.

Former Leicester, England and British Lions rugby player, Tim Stimpson, attended a networking event at Harborough Innovation Centre where he met George Fox, the managing director of head protection company Hedkayse.

George - who previously appeared on Dragons’ Den – gave a talk about the company’s cycle helmet safety design at the event.

And Tim, who won five Premiership titles and 19 caps for England, began discussions with George about how his ground breaking design could be used for rugby headguards.

The helmets use a type of foam technology to reduce injuries and protect the long-term brain health of players. It is the only product in the world which continues to be structurally sound following impact.

Former Leicester Tiger player Tim said: “At Leicester we prided ourselves on kicking seven shades out of each other at training - and it worked too, we had a pretty awesome record.

“But the evidence we got it wrong is starting to mount, and I have numerous teammates suffering life changing consequences from repeated concussions including depression and memory loss.

“Discovering Hedkayse and sharing the desire they have is inspiring.”

A Hedkayse spokesman added: “By reducing the force of impacts, Hedkayse hope to mitigate the risk to long-term brain health of players, highlighted by a legal case involving hundreds of ex-players who are living with neurological injuries they say are a result of governing bodies failing to put in place reasonable measures to protect them.”