THE TROUBLES and early death of former Salford Red Devils captain Malcolm Alker were down to a brain injury suffered during his playing career, his father told an inquest.
Alker suffered depression after retiring from a stellar career in rugby league and was blighted by mental health troubles, booze and drugs.
After collapsing at his home in Ince, Wigan, in January, he was taken to Royal Bolton Hospital where he went into respiratory and cardiac arrest.
A coroner concluded he died of multiple organ failure which 'on the balance of probabilities' was down to 'combined drug toxicity.
The father-of-two was just 45.
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