Lock in coma after high drama
AS THE Southland Stags played for their championship lives, their team-mate Hoani MacDonald was literally fighting for his on the sidelines of a dramatic semifinal in Pukekohe yesterday.
Seldom can sport have seemed so trivial, as Counties Manukau ran out 48-23 winners over Southland to earn a place against Otago in next Friday’s final of provincial rugby’s ‘‘championship’’ division.
Not that the players of either side knew it at the time.
MacDonald had to leave the field early after collapsing and suffering a suspected cardiac arrest. As medicos frantically worked to save the 34-year-old’s life on the sidelines, the semifinal played on just metres away.
Players from both blissfully unaware of unfolding nearby.
The veteran New Zealand Maori, Junior All Black and Highlanders player was reported last night to be in a ‘‘stable’’ condition at Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital after being placed in an induced coma.
But as details began to emerge of the incident, it was clear that drastic action had to be taken. Witnesses reported seeing him fall to the ground clutching his chest and said he appeared unresponsive.
Medical personnel reportedly applied CPR for around 10 minutes, using a defibrillator and oxygen mask to help revive him. This was all conducted behind the privacy of a tarpaulin. He was then taken by ambulance to the hospital.
Meanwhile, the semifinal played on.
Southland coach Dave Henderson said he was aware at halftime that something serious had happened to MacDonald but elected not to tell the team about it until after the game.
Counties coach and former All Blacks captain Tana Umaga said that in hindsight it seemed as though priorities were out of kilter.
‘‘It puts things into perspective,’’ he said after the game. ‘‘It shouldn’t be life or death what we do here. It’s a game we play for fun and players’ health should be paramount in everything.’’ sides were the dramas