(Stuff.co.nz)
A former top detective was so scared his son would injure himself playing rugby he wanted the High Court to issue an injunction to stop him.
But while Mike Sabin was awaiting legal advice, his fears came tragically true last weekend with 18-year-old Northland club rugby flanker Darryl airlifted to Auckland Hospital after a suspected high tackle.
The Mangonui teen was last night in a coma suffering serious brain swelling following a “catastrophic head injury”.
His game, for Te Hapua against Waipapakauri, was only the second match Darryl had played since a similar injury on the football field two years ago.
Fighting back tears from near his son’s hospital bedside, ex-drug squad officer Mike told Sunday News: “This has blown my world apart. Your perception of life changes, it really does.
“It has been hell for the last few days, it is hour by hour and day by day.”
Mike, 40, said he had an eerie premonition any return to rugby by Darryl would end in disaster. His son was prone to serious injuries because of his “cavalier attitude”.
“Darryl only knows one way and that is 110 percent. He plays like a Tomahawk cruise missile and that lands him with injuries,” said the proud dad. “He thinks he is invincible.”
Shortly after his March 2007 rugby head injury, Darryl became involved in the high-risk rodeo scene.
Before last Saturday’s match in Te Hapua, he and Darryl spoke at length about the dangers of the teen taking the field.
“We were at loggerheads over this. It was hard to explain to a young fella that he needed to stop doing something he really loved but I told him if there is one thing he could do for me it was to not play rugby.”
Mike last year awarded a Sir Peter Blake Emerging Leader award for his services to fighting the P epidemic said he “simply knew” after Darryl’s 2007 rugby injury that if his son played again he would end up in hospital.
“I said to my family that this is written in a script but because of Darryl’s determination I just had to keep turning the pages and waiting,” he said.
But despite his dad’s warning, Darryl was determined to follow his dream and play.
“I got angry when he couldn’t see what I was saying,” Mike said.
An anxious Mike approached the Northland Rugby Union and sought advice on what avenues were available for concerned parents.
“I wanted to seek an injunction.
“I thought that if we couldn’t protect him ourselves, then we would get a court order,” Mike said.
The province’s rugby union manager, Greg Shipton, confirmed Mike’s approach, and said legal advice was still being sought at the time of the terrible accident.
“Mike rung me to see if there was anything I could do to stop him playing, so I made some calls and made an appointment for him to come and see me Monday. But by then it was too late,” Shipton said.
He said the union’s thoughts were with Darryl and his family and he hoped the teen would recover.
“I just hope he gets another crack, not at rugby, but at life.”
Mike who heads methamphetamine educators MethCon remembers sitting in the lounge of his Northland home last Saturday, and looking out the window to see a police car arrive.
“My heart sank. As soon as I saw the constable I knew what he was visiting about,” he said.
“He said, `Is your son Darryl?’ and I asked, `Is it rugby?”‘
Mike has been told Darryl was hit in a high tackle and thrown backwards, hitting his head on the ground. He walked off the field but collapsed and went into a coma.
Mike said he had been unable to attend the game because he knows he would have “run on to the field and physically pulled him off to stop him playing”.
Although he describes himself as non-religious, Mike said “there have definitely been lots of prayers”.
“Whatever happens, Darryl’s character and spirit will not be broken, even if his brain is.”
Despite Darryl ignoring his advice to stay off the rugby field, Mike said he does not blame his boy, who had planned to join the Navy as a marine technician in October.
“I don’t ever want him to feel responsible for this. I understand why he played and that is because he loves it.
“Even though Darryl is in a desperate way, my boy is a survivor. To be honest, he shouldn’t be alive now.
“I have told the doctors and nurses that if anyone is to rise from the challenge then my Darryl is that phoenix.
“He isn’t talking but by God I know he will be fighting.”
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