I had to save rugby star’s boys from news he’d died
‘Axel’ Foley’s sister recalls the shocking moment she learned of his death
THE sisters of Munster rugby legend Anthony ‘Axel’ Foley have told how they were having a family breakfast with his children in a café when they heard about their brother’s sudden death.
In a deeply emotional RTÉ documentary to mark Anthony’s first anniversary, Rosie and Orla Foley said their first instinct was to protect their mother and nephews from seeing the devastating news on TV screens in the Killaloe coffee house.
Munster legends such as Paul O’Connell, Ronan O’Gara and Jerry Flannery also feature in the documentary and struggled to contain their tears as they described the loss of the Clare man at the age of 42 in Paris last October .
Recalling that fatal morning, Rosie Foley told how her husband Pat had phoned to tell her and Orla to go outside the café where he had pulled up with his car.
She said: ‘I could see by his face. He said, “Anthony didn’t wake up, your father is after ringing.” How do you process that? What do you mean Anthony didn’t wake up? Anthony is 42.’ Her thoughts immediately turned to Anthony’s children, who were still sitting in the café with her mother.
‘I was afraid, because they have a TV in the corner and maybe something would flash up. My priority was to get my mother home,’ she said. ‘We had all that... having to be up with Olive and tell the boys. To your dying day, you’ll remember. Just pure devastation and loss,’ added Orla.
Earlier in the documentary, she told how she had played cupid to get her brother together with her schoolfriend Olive, who had caught his eye. ‘He mentioned he really fancied Olive, so we brought Olive to Cork shopping and it so happened that Shannon were playing a game, and it just so happened when the game was over I told Olive there wasn’t room in my car.’
The rugby legend’s future wife found herself with the rest of the Shannon squad on the team bus home from Cork.
‘By Limerick they were kissing and holding hands,’ laughed Orla.
His childhood friend and former Ireland team mate, Keith Wood, said he loved the fact that Olive spent the first six months of their relationship trying to get Anthony a steady job.
‘It was kind of cool when he was playing for Ireland and playing for Munster professionally,’ he said laughing. ‘Sure, she was magic for him, they were great together.’
Former Irish and Munster captain Paul O’Connell broke down in tears when speaking about his late team mate. ‘I see photos of him now and I still can’t believe it,’ he said. ‘I can’t believe it, can’t understand it, can’t get my head around it.’
Rosie Foley said it was poignant that her brother’s death spurred the Munster team into playing their brand of magical rugby once again, but she wants them to push forward with his legacy.
‘They have played for him and I just really want them to keep going like that,’ she added. ‘But I suppose I was thinking in the back of my mind, he didn’t need to die for ye to play like that but that’s life. You have to get on and do your best.’
Axel’s sudden death sparked a reaction of grief and profound shock. But Orla said: ‘Anthony would find it funny that he is responsible for the emotional intelligence in men going up a notch in our country.’
‘I see photos of him now and I still can’t believe it’