Carrying our captain’s coffin home is hardest thing I have ever done
Dens ace Nicky’s loan is touched by tragedy
NICKY LOW has spoken of his anguish after carrying Derry City captain Ryan McBride on his final journey home following his sudden death which has plunged the club into shock.
Midfielder Low is on loan at the League of Ireland club from Dundee and spent time with McBride just hours before he was found dead aged 27.
Emotional Low and the rest of his team-mates carried McBride’s coffin back to his family home in Brandywell close to Derry City’s stadium.
McBride’s death came just a day after he had skippered them to a 4-0 win over Drogheda and Low paid tribute to the man who helped him settle in Ireland.
The 25-year-old said: “I’ve never experienced anything like the last few days and hopefully I won’t again. It was so hard going to see him lying there in the coffin in full Derry City kit.
“We met as a team on Monday and seemed to be handling it OK but after seeing his body there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
“His friends and family came and we all took turns each to carry the coffin for a couple of hundred yards to his home which is a stone’s throw from Derry City’s Brandywell ground.
“That walk was so hard – it’s heartbreaking and devastating to think what happened.
“I haven’t known him so long and I’ve found it hard so I can’t imagine how the long-serving players and in particular his family and friends are feeling.
“We played against Drogheda on the Saturday and were in on Sunday for a loosener ahead of our game on Tuesday which was obviously cancelled.
“I actually sat with Ryan and Mikhail Kennedy, who is on loan from Charlton, after training. We had a coffee and a bite to eat.
“We all then went our separate ways and it’s so hard to believe we won’t get the chance to do that again or that he won’t walk into our dressing room.
“I was out on Sunday night with the sub keeper Eric Grimes and when we returned to the flat we share with another two boys they asked if we had heard anything. We knew it was serious because they had their head in their hands. We started to panic, they told us to sit down and then they said, ‘We think Ryan McBride has passed away.’
“We got a hold of the keeper Gerard Doherty, who was up at the house. He said it was true and we were shattered.
“The funeral tomorrow will be hard but Ryan was one of the strongest characters I ever met and he’d be shouting at us now to get on with it.
“I play in the middle of the park. Ryan was behind me and
would always be giving me words of encouragement. I know I will still hear his voice in my head.” Former Kilmarnock boss Kenny Shiels is now in charge of Derry City and spoke of his heartache, having been Rugby Park gaffer in 2012 when Liam Kelly’s father died behind the dugout during their League Cup final win over Celtic. Shiels said: “The eerie thing for me is that the third Sunday in March, five years ago, Liam’s father dropped dead.” Low admitted he feels for Shiels and added: “Kenny is just devastated. He’s trying to galvanise everyone but he’s breaking down himself. “Ryan was the club captain and made me feel very welcome. You liked him instantly and he’ll be a massive loss. “The first thing I did was text my mum and my family to tell them how much I love them and how short and cruel life can be. “I moved to Aberdeen ( from Greenock) at 15 and I haven’t spent much time at home in the last decade so I wanted to text them.”