My condolences to all who knew him as a team mate, family member of just a good mate.

Brumbies lock Shawn Mackay dies in Durban hospital

April 06, 2009 Brumbies Super 14 rugby player Shawn Mackay has died in a Durban hospital.

Mackay, 26, died at about 11am EST, having suffered a cardiac arrest, a Brumbies spokesman said.

He had been in hospital, critically ill with multiple injuries, since the early hours of March 29 when he was hit by an armed response car in a Durban street.

He had shown some positive signs after being brought out of a medically induced coma late last week and underwent surgery.

“After his surgery Shawn contracted an infection in his bloodstream,” said Brumbies chief executive Andrew Fagan.

“He deteriorated rapidly and suffered a cardiac arrest from which he didn’t recover.”

More to come.

AAP

I certainly wish Shawn all the best for a full and speedy recovery, and I’m quite sure the Brumbies will miss not just his on-field impact, but after reading these words, his off-field presence as well.

Robbie

Unfortunately the never-ending flow of incidents with footballers leaves us with little sympathy when something does happen. When players are at home, then I think there is a little less scope for them to be out and about.

But unless you have been on tour for a couple of weeks with a professional sporting team, you don’t really understand how stifling that environment can become. Part of being a good coaching/management team, is knowing when to let the team off the leash so that they can get some down time and just enjoy being overseas in a new place, and meeting the locals.

The thing to remember is, if it was an afternoon game which finished at 5pm, and the players went out for 4 hours from 8 o’clock until midnight, no-one would even think twice about it. Unfortunately the timing doesn’t allow the players to get out much before midnight – and if they don’t take that opportunity, there may not be another one on that tour.

Touring is fun in parts, but stifling at times, and for the majority of the time, it’s just plain hard work. Clearly the Brumbies made every effort to ensure the players were safe. They all went to the one place so that players weren’t wandering around town late at night, and organised a hotel bus to pick them all up at the same time.

All in all, just terribly unfortunate. But as Billy Millard says above Macca just doesn’t know how to quit. If anyone can pull through, he can.

A huge commendation to the du Plessis brothers – Jannie & Bismarck, who apparently were quickly on the scene & assisted. As someone involved in the emergency game, I understand how quick & correct intervention can make a huge difference, especially in potential spinal situations.

Thank you for explaining why they might still be out & about at 4am. Among my first thoughts were – okay, you can get run over at any time of the day & night. But what were Brumbies players doing out & about at 4am, in-season?

You’ve described that. And apparently there was no skylarking, & they were reasonably sober. I guess it was just shocking bad luck. My brother was bowled over by a stolen car while halfway across a pedestrian crossing in broad afternoon daylight. He had a few drinks but was otherwise fine.

He was lucky, suffering a broken leg & a limp for a while but he made a full recovery. Maybe arthritis will bedevil his leg in old age, but otherwise he’s fine. So accidents do happen. Hopefully, Shawn Mackay will make a full recovery to lead a normal life.

A workmate knows his father & speaks highly of the family. We can only trust he will make a full recovery.

I was Head Coach of the Australian Sevens Team for 4 years and Macca was my Captain for most of those years. We went through some tough times together away from home and I got to know him on and off the field. A coaches delight!!

He was then the first player picked when I coached the Melbourne Rebels in the ARC. At that stage he had a nasty ankle/knee injury and was not expected to play in the ARC at all – it was a risky recruited move and if it was any other player – I wld not have even thought about it.. Mac worked so hard to get it right with our conditioners and medical staff and ended up playing a big role in our last 4 games.

Loges – you described the big man well in your article. I have seen him push his body to limits most guys would not know about – many many times. Once in LA – he was vomiting blood at 1/2 time and was officially gone after 2 big days (as we never subbed him) and NZ were 3 or 4 tries up – we had a young team and had run out of gas. Medical staff advised me to get Macca off – so I told him he was being replaced. He took me to one side and said – “dont even think abt it Billy – Im going to get into these Kiwis – we can f……..win this!!”. He then got the boys into a huddle and laid down the law. He went out and played the whole 2nd half and lead a great fight back – but we fell short. We literally carried Macca back into to the sheds.

God bless you big fella and I know you will fight hard and pull thru this.

By my observation, he is exactly as you describe. A team man, perpetual motion and giver on and off the field. Lets hope he makes a full and rapid recovery.

I thought it an indicative sign of the regard in which he is held by his teammates that they chose to remain in Durban this week.