GARY MURRAY
Gary Murray was fighting for his life after his bout with Paddy Gallagher went horribly wrong. For Murray, much of what happened on October 3, 2017, is forgotten but for those around him, like fiancée Kelly Regan, manager Sam Kynoch and Doctor Faber, who
A series of eye-witnesses relive the night when tragedy almost struck
GARY MURRAY MY mum wanted me to pull out long before the fight started, and she is actually pro boxing because she has seen the difference it made to my life. But she saw the state of me beforehand and was begging me not to fight.
Training camp was not the greatest, I’ve been fitter for some of my white-collar fights than I was in this one. I had to change strength and conditioning coaches and I knew before the fight that I had done everything wrong in preparation.
Being honest, I would have struggled against a journeyman that night, it’s as simple as that. I wasn’t going to back out though, I’m fighter after all, so I thought I would just go in there and fight my heart out. Never in a million years did I think this was going to happen.
And today, I don’t remember anything about it. KELLY REGAN During the fight I was near the front and was trying to hype myself up to watch, but the minute it started I took my usual position and just faced the floor. I could hear the people next to me saying it was a close fight.
In the 10th round, I remember hearing the thud when his head hit the canvas and at that point, Gary’s sister, mum and I went straight to the corner. The doctor was in the ring, he was getting oxygen and my nerves were all over the place.
DR FABER Suddenly Gary just ran into a punch and hit the floor, it was a straight hit and he hit the floor hard, it was scary. I checked whether he was conscious, and breathing. My main role at that stage is to sort the airways. Boxers that have had problems is due to stopping breathing, and that’s when you can get secondary injuries with oxygen not getting to the brain.
But Gary was breathing and he quickly came round. I then assessed what’s called the Glasgow Coma Scale, where you ask them to obey certain commands, like the use of eyes and verbalising things. He could talk and follow commands but didn’t quite know where he was and just wasn’t quite right. The lower you score on a scale of 15 the worse you are, and Gary scored 12 or 13 which is a high score. But he didn’t improve, and was a bit agitated. I made the call that he had to go into hospital. We phoned ahead from the ambulance to let them know we were coming so that they were prepared. At the hospital, the scan showed up the bleed on his brain.
SAM KYNOCH It sounds terrible now, but when the fight was called off I was just gutted because I felt Gary was in front and almost everybody I spoke to at ringside thought that Gary was winning it. I thought barring the knockout that happened, he couldn’t have lost, so my first reaction was to be gutted for him. I thought he’d boxed a great fight and at the end, I thought it was exhaustion, and I fully expected to see him the next day and speak to him about the fight. ➤
I KNEW I’D STRUGGLE, BUT NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS DID I THINK THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. AND TODAY, I DON’T REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT IT
We went to the hospital and were told that Gary was going for his scan. At this point we still thought everything was going to be okay. I was then asked to take a phone call at reception, it was the neurological surgeon who explained that Gary’s CT scan had shown quite
ALL I’D WISHED FOR WAS FOR GARY TO WAKE UP AND BREATHE ON HIS OWN - THE FACT HE RECOGNISED US WAS EVERYTHING”
a significant bleed on the brain that required immediate surgery and he would have to be moved to the Western General. At that point I was in shock, they let me in to see him and explained what was going to happen.
At the Western General, the nurse explained it would be a long night. Out of everything, that was the worst part as it was the unknown. Gary was in surgery for around five hours but it felt like weeks.
The doctor explained that they had removed the bleed, it had been a significant bleed but also the brain had shifted which had caused swelling. This meant he would be asleep for at least 24 hours. I was able to get in and see him, he was hooked up to every machine possible but I was just happy he was alive because, without wishing to be dramatic, I didn’t know what they were going to tell us so the fact I could see him was a relief.
He was in an incubator on life support and wasn’t breathing on his own but he was still there and that was all that mattered. The scar on his head was like a zip, he had a hundred staples inserted and a head monitor to measure the pressure.
The surgeon explained that the next 48 hours would be the most critical as the midline shift in his brain was causing further complications. In the first 48 hours Gary had to have six infusions. The toughest thing to see was the swelling which came out a couple of days later. His head was huge and it looked like his brain was ready to come through his forehead.
Gary also developed pneumonia which is quite common for people in intensive care because of the incubator. This set off the pressure in his head again and required another three infusions within 12 hours.
After about 10 days things were starting to look quite good and they were bringing the sedation down little by little, another landmark was when they took the head monitor away and we were no longer focusing on measuring the pressure.
The day they reduced his final sedation we walked in and sure enough he was awake and recognised us. He was very groggy and unable to talk but the signs were good. I can’t actually describe how good the moment was when I could see him awake. All I’d wished was for Gary to wake up and be able to breathe on his own, the fact that he recognised us was everything. Before, we didn’t know how he would be when he woke up, so it felt like all the wishes had come true.
SAM:
As soon as he woke up it was like a massive alleviation of pressure and just being able to speak to him again made everything a lot easier.
KELLY:
Gary had now been in bed for 14 days and not been on his feet yet. He was trying to stand and walk but his legs would give way. He started getting stronger and it was incredible that after a couple of days he was walking unaided although still quite shaky.
When it was time to move hospitals closer to home I asked for the Southern General in Glasgow but as he no longer needed neurological care were told it would be a local hospital. At that point we looked into Murdostoun Castle which is a private brain rehabilitation unit, thankfully Gary’s management team stepped in and helped with the funding for which we are very grateful. He went in for an initial two weeks for physio, speech, language and psychology, everything you could possibly want but on an intense level - like a school timetable.
GARY:
Being there really put things in perspective. I was feeling down about not been able to fight anymore, but I’m watching people that can’t even walk, and it made me realise I needed to get a grip. And it was there, that I started to accept the future.
I’m actually hungry to become a coach, I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to studying boxing so it was always my intention to get into coaching when my career was over. Because I never won anything as a boxer I have a huge drive to get some success as a coach.
SAM:
Gary is going to be a material part of the team going forward, I said even before he turned pro that he would make a good coach. He can read boxing well and put himself across well and I think he will make for a great coach. I’m just so glad that he is able to be part of the sport and part of our team.
GARY:
I really have to thank the whole boxing community, I couldn’t believe all the good luck and get well messages I had from people like Martin Murray and Frank Bruno. Anthony Joshua even sent a signed glove.
Paddy is brand new and was in touch with Kelly when I was in the hospital. I’m hoping to see him again soon and he has said that if he gets his British title shot next year then he wants me to walk him out to the ring. I know how I’d feel if someone I boxed had ended up like that but it is part of the game and I hold no grudges.
My advice for boxers is this: Don’t take it for granted as one punch can change it all. Also, don’t take any chances if things aren’t right don’t say I’ll go for it, anything can happen as I found out.
HE WAS STILL THERE, BUT THE SCAR ON HIS HEAD WAS LIKE A ZIP, HE HAD A HUNDRED STAPLES INSERTED