Payton’s initial symptoms gave the impression something was wrong.
When fellow former Hull City trainee Dean Windass came out earlier this year to say he had received a diagnosis of dementia at the age of 56, Payton felt encouraged to get checked himself.
“I was having symptoms such as bad headaches, forgetfulness, but for someone in their mid-50s probably a bit too much,” he said.
“The headaches were an issue and still are a little bit, but I knew that something didn’t feel right. When I knew Deano had been diagnosed I thought I’d go and get checked out. I could either get told ‘you’re OK’ or that ‘there’s a problem here’.”
After a brain scan, Payton received the news he had been diagnosed with early-onset dementia.
The scale of the damage to his brain and what the future might hold were particularly concerning to hear.
“It’s hard to put into words,” he said. “Things that were on the tip of your tongue just would not come out.
“Going off what they’ve said, out of the 60 tracts in my brain, 27 were damaged. You lose connection, as it were. I’m OK now, but it’s for further down the line the fear comes in a little bit.”
Would he have got tested were it not for Windass going public? Payton does not think so.
“I wouldn’t, I don’t think, because I didn’t know that you could potentially have tests,” he said.
“Me and Deano were 16-year-olds at Hull City together so I knew him. I thought it made sense to get tested.”
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