Rugby star Shawn Mackay dies after hit and run in South Africa

Shawn Mackay, a Super 14’s Rugby player for the ACT Brumbies, and captain of the Australian sevens team, has died after being injured in a hit and run in South Africa.

As late as Friday, it was believed that Mackay was on the mend, and media reports said that he had made eye contact with friends and relatives.

Mackay was hit by a car outside a night club on Durban, South Africa March 29. According to local reports, he was reported to be leaving Clapham Club with team-mates when a car struck him. He was admitted to hospital with a cervical spinal fracture and dislocation, compound fractures to the left leg and multiple lacerations to parts of his body.

On his passing, Australian Rugby Union boss John O’Neill described Shawn Mackay as a great leader and a great mentor. O’Neill described Mackay as the sort of guy you’d want by your side: “Everyone he came in contact with, it was the same response – a bloke you’d want in the trenches with you, a bloke you’d want by your side…A great leader and a great mentor and a very fine person, struck down far too young.”