By Sanele Chadwick
Southland Stags player Hoani MacDonald is starting to improve after collapsing during a rugby game at the weekend.
He came out of intensive care today and is showing what doctors describe as positive signs of recovery. The relief today for all those who knew him is matched only by their shock on Saturday.
Rugby Southland chief executive Brian Hopley says it was hard for everyone.
“We're a fairly tight-knit unit, we're a small provincial union. Overall, we're very tight, very close, so it was quite devastating to hear the actual news.”
Today MacDonald was moved from the intensive care unit to a coronary care ward, where his situation continues to improve.
A statement from the New Zealand Rugby Union says he's showing positive signs, acknowledging questions and recognising people around him.
Hopley says it's a reminder this can happen to anyone.
“It's a wake-up call to everybody that this is a possibility that can happen. Hoani was a very fit man, he'd played a lot of top-level rugby.”
At this stage it's still unclear weather MacDonald suffered a cardiac arrest or heart attack, but a spokesperson told 3 News tests are still being done to confirm the exact nature and cause of the event.
One man who might know what MacDonald is going through is Fabrice Muamba, who collapsed in the middle of a football pitch earlier this year with cardiac arrest. His heart stopped for 78 minutes, but he managed to survive.
The fairytale continued for Muamba, who married his fiancée overnight at Peckforton Castle in England.
It's hoped MacDonald's story will have an equally happy ending - he's also engaged, and his fiancée Michelle remains at his bedside.
3 News
source: newshub archive
