By Niall O’Connor
Irish Daily Mail
CORK, Ireland — A promising teenage GAA player has died after he collapsed during a school game with a massive heart attack.
Shane Murphy, of Cork, died on Monday evening in the second case of suspected sudden adult death syndrome in two days.
Over the weekend, model and UCC student Deirdre Lynch, 20, also collapsed and died while working at a restaurant in Cork.
On Monday, Shane was ten minutes into the second half of a GAA schools football match in Carrigadrohid, near Macroom, when he fell to the ground and lay motionless.
Coaches Mickey Ned O’Sullivan and Brendan Duggan tried to save Shane using the club’s defibrillator as they waited for an ambulance, but they were unable to revive him.
Shane, described as Carrigadrohid club’s star player, was from a strong GAA pedigree and his family, all from the Clondrohid area were well known in Cork GAA circles.
The match on Saturday was between his school Coláiste Ghobnatán, Ballyvourney, and Kinsale Community College.
Cork County Councillor Michael Creed said: ‘You couldn’t meet a nicer young lad. He was shy and unassuming and loved sport.
‘He was a fabulous footballer and a real gentleman. He was gifted and everyone knew he was going to make the Cork team.’ Twitter and Facebook pages were filled with tributes to the young man, with one describing Shane as ‘a footballer and a sportsman of the absolute highest order, and an even better person’. Another said ‘awful news about our finest gentleman’.
Another councillor, Aindrias Moynihan, said Shane’s death was ‘an awful shock’. ‘It’s an awful blow for the family and indeed the wider community,’ Mr Moynihan said. A spokesman for Clondrohid GAA said Shane was their star player. ‘He was the best underage hurler and footballer in the club and a nicer fellow you couldn’t meet.
Everyone here is numb with shock.’ Shane captained the club’s under-15 footballers last year and was seen by many as a star in the making. Yesterday Shane’s family home in rural Clondrohid was crowded with relatives and well-wishers.
Meanwhile, the family of Deirdre Lynch were still in shock yesterday following the death of the student, who worked as a part-time model and waitress.
Miss Lynch, 20, was cleaning glasses at Eco Restaurant in Douglas Village on Saturday afternoon when she collapsed. The second-year arts student at UCC had complained of feeling dizzy a fortnight earlier. She had been taking antibiotics.
On Saturday at about 4.30pm, the former head girl again complained of dizziness, before falling to the floor.
She was taken to Cork University Hospital but died a short time later.
Her funeral Mass takes place at 11am today.
The owner of Eco Restaurant, Dave Halpin, said: ‘She was an amazing girl who had everything going for her.’ Sudden adult death syndrome is believed to be responsible for at least one death a week in Ireland.
It is a sudden cardiac death of an apparently fit and healthy young person, with most reporting no symptoms before their fatal collapse.
In October, 16-year-old GAA player James Fitzgerald was training in a home gym in Charleville, Co. Cork, when he collapsed and died.
reporter@dailymail.ie alarming rise of fatal incidents SUDDEN adult death syndrome is thought to be responsible for at least one death a week in Ireland.
And the incidence of on-pitch deaths or near deaths seems to be on the rise.
In October a teenage GAA player spoke of his shock after suddenly collapsing on the pitch. Goalie Cormac Ryan, 19, from Whitehall in Dublin, fell to his knees after complaining of chest pains and feeling light headed during an All-Ireland minor hurling final. He now has a pacemaker fitted.
In April a 28-year-old hurler who collapsed and died during a training session in London was flown home to Ireland to be buried. Cathal Forde, from Galway, was believed to be another victim of sudden adult death syndrome and his parents asked for donations to be made to the Cormac McAnallen Trust. In 2004, Tyrone GAA star Cormac McAnallen died from a heart attack aged just 24.
In January this year, GAA player Ciaran Carr, 20, from Clondalkin, Dublin, died of a suspected case of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome while training.
In May 2011, Kieran Hegarty finished training with his club in Cork when he suddenly collapsed in the dressing room. His teammates tried to save him with a defibrillator but the 28-year-old died in hospital.
The GAA says the most effective way to identify risk is for players over 14 to undergo cardiac screening on one occasion.
‘You couldn’t meet a nicer young lad’
Copyright 2012 Irish Daily Mail - Associated Newspapers Ltd
All Rights Reserved