Tania Dalton
Tributes to a champion
Silver Fern netballer and Sky TV commentator Tania Dalton has had her life support turned off and is expected to “slip away when she is ready”, her family say.
The Dalton family said yesterday that they wanted to let people know that “Tania’s life support was turned off at 1.26pm today . . . The family are by her side and she is peaceful.
“It is expected that she will slip away when she is ready, any time from now.” They said tests had shown the aneurysm she experienced on Thursday night had resulted in massive blood loss and loss of oxygen to the brain for an extended period.
“The damage has now been accepted as irreversible.”
Dalton, 45, and her husband, Duane, have three children, Tayla, Charlie and Matthew.
Dalton suffered an internal carotid artery aneurysm while playing for her Pita Pit team — Duane Dalton is co-director of Pita Pit NZ — and was treated on the field at Northcote’s Onewa Domain, bleeding profusely from nose and mouth.
Her condition was listed as critical over most of the weekend and the decision was made to switch off life support yesterday afternoon.
Dalton (nee Nicolson) attended Carmel College and progressed through the North Harbour netball programme, while also starring in the local club tennis competition.
A crafty shooter, Dalton represented the Silver Ferns from 1996-2006, but she faced several lengthy lay-offs over that period due to serious injuries and time away from the sport to have children.
Dalton was part of the 2003 world champion side and was also in the team that finished runners-up in 1999.
She played for Northern Force before switching to Southern Sting.
After her retirement in 2007, she became a regular member of the Sky Sport netball commentary team.