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Tragic death of league legend's son
By Brad Walter and Justin Norrie
April 19, 2006
"It's a terrible thing" Warren Ryan on the death of his son, Matthew.
Photo: Ruth Hartmann
WHILE Warren Ryan was commentating on Saturday night's NRL game at Brookvale Oval, his 24-year-old son, Matthew, lay in intensive care in St Vincent's Hospital.
It was how the former premiership winning coach felt he could cope best with such a devastating blow.
The next day Matthew died, robbing Ryan and his wife, Pam, of their only child. "I don't want to go into the details," Ryan said yesterday. "He passed away on Sunday, and that's all I want to say.
"It's terrible. We loved him very dearly and we will miss him terribly. It's a terrible thing. I'm so sad, and my wife is so sad about it. There's nothing else we can say. We're just so shattered about it. It's a tragedy."
Although the coroner is expected to say the eastern suburbs real estate agent and former Waverley College student died of heart failure, police are still investigating the matter. A spokesman for St Vincent's Hospital said last night that a 24-year-old man had been admitted on, or about, Wednesday night following an overdose of the party drug, gamma hydroxybutyrate, which is also known as GBH.
The spokesman said a decision was made to switch off the man's life support machine on Sunday when it was established that he had suffered irreparable brain damage.
The Herald understands the man had been at a party at an inner-city flat with friends when he took the drug. It is believed the friends left him without realising he had overdosed.
By the time paramedics came he had suffered heart failure.
After taking Sunday off, Ryan was back at work on Monday. "I've shed that many tears with my wife over it and you just can't go on looking at four walls," he said of his decision to commentate on Monday's NRL game. "You just can't sit there and grieve all the time; you've got to try and do something to distract you. That's all there was to it."
The NRL's chief, David Gallop, said: "It's a tragedy. Our thoughts are with Warren and his wife."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/tragic-death-of-league-legends-son/2006/04/18/1145344087265.html
By Brad Walter and Justin Norrie
April 19, 2006
"It's a terrible thing" Warren Ryan on the death of his son, Matthew.
Photo: Ruth Hartmann
WHILE Warren Ryan was commentating on Saturday night's NRL game at Brookvale Oval, his 24-year-old son, Matthew, lay in intensive care in St Vincent's Hospital.
It was how the former premiership winning coach felt he could cope best with such a devastating blow.
The next day Matthew died, robbing Ryan and his wife, Pam, of their only child. "I don't want to go into the details," Ryan said yesterday. "He passed away on Sunday, and that's all I want to say.
"It's terrible. We loved him very dearly and we will miss him terribly. It's a terrible thing. I'm so sad, and my wife is so sad about it. There's nothing else we can say. We're just so shattered about it. It's a tragedy."
Although the coroner is expected to say the eastern suburbs real estate agent and former Waverley College student died of heart failure, police are still investigating the matter. A spokesman for St Vincent's Hospital said last night that a 24-year-old man had been admitted on, or about, Wednesday night following an overdose of the party drug, gamma hydroxybutyrate, which is also known as GBH.
The spokesman said a decision was made to switch off the man's life support machine on Sunday when it was established that he had suffered irreparable brain damage.
The Herald understands the man had been at a party at an inner-city flat with friends when he took the drug. It is believed the friends left him without realising he had overdosed.
By the time paramedics came he had suffered heart failure.
After taking Sunday off, Ryan was back at work on Monday. "I've shed that many tears with my wife over it and you just can't go on looking at four walls," he said of his decision to commentate on Monday's NRL game. "You just can't sit there and grieve all the time; you've got to try and do something to distract you. That's all there was to it."
The NRL's chief, David Gallop, said: "It's a tragedy. Our thoughts are with Warren and his wife."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/tragic-death-of-league-legends-son/2006/04/18/1145344087265.html
