Former South Sydney Rabbitohs forward Jai Arrow recently appeared on The Montoyas Podcast with his wife, Berina Colakovic, to discuss his motor neurone disease (MND) diagnosis. Arrow shared two unexpected aspects of living with the terminal illness that he found to be positive: enhanced orgasms and pseudobulbar affect (PBA), a condition causing uncontrollable laughter.
"So, there's obviously a lot of bad that comes with MND, but there are two good things, mate. The orgasms," Arrow said during the podcast. He clarified that he was referring to his own climaxes, not his wife's. PBA, as described by MND Australia, can lead to excessive laughing or crying at inappropriate times. Arrow recounted instances where this occurred during therapy sessions with his wife and even during serious team meetings.
"We were in therapy, couples therapy, and I'm bawling my eyes out in front of this psychologist about him having just received a terminal diagnosis," Colakovic said. "Out of nowhere, he just starts laughing his head off."
Arrow also discussed future family plans with Colakovic. The couple, who recently married, are planning to freeze one of Colakovic's embryos. This decision is intended to allow their daughter, Ayla, to have a biological sibling in the future. Arrow acknowledged that due to the progression of MND, he will not be able to provide significant assistance in raising another child.
"I know that [the responsibility of raising another child] won't be on me," Arrow stated. "If you [Berina] want to, I'm happy, but you're going to have to understand I won't be capable of helping as much."
Looking ahead, Arrow expressed a desire to establish his own MND Foundation. He hopes to collaborate with the NRL, AFL, and Rugby Union to create a unified round of support for MND awareness and research. "I think down the road as well, we've spoken about this, but essentially no one really knows about this, so this is another scoop," Arrow said. "Down the road, I would love to open a foundation, and work with the neurological institute where my neurologist works... But also working with, you know, the NRL. And maybe, essentially, what we could do is: if the AFL, the NRL and rugby union, one week of the year, come together and all three do an MND round, I think that'd be unreal."