WP Rugby statement: Daniel du Plessis
Hooker Daniel du Plessis suffered a cardiac arrest on Saturday afternoon whilst playing for the DHL Western Province Under-21 team at DHL Newlands. However, on Monday Du Plessis began to show a steady improvement which is a very positive sign for a full recovery.
Daniel Mills du Plessis – who turned 20 on February 24, 2015 – collapsed on the field during Saturday’s Absa Provincial Under-21 encounter between DHL WP and the Leopards and he stopped breathing. He was immediately attended to by the DHL Western Province U21 medical team and, together with paramedics from ER24, he was resuscitated on the field and further stabilised in the stadium medical room by the stadium specialists.
Once stable, Daniel was immediately transferred by ambulance to the ICU at Vincent Pallotti Hospital. He was put in an induced coma and ventilated on Saturday night. After a steady improvement and excellent specialist care, he has come off the ventilator and is now sitting up and talking.
He still has a recovery period ahead, and the cause of his arrest remains unknown, but his steady improvement is a very positive sign for a full recovery.
The Western Province Rugby Football Union would like to take this opportunity to once again thank the specialist medical team, as well as the ER24 on-duty crew, for their swift actions on the field on Saturday, which saved the player’s life.
Du Plessis’s father, Bruce, and his wife Janice were at their son’s hospital bedside on Monday afternoon – having returned from their overseas commitments at the first available flight – and they also expressed their gratitude to the medical teams and ER24 crew in action on Saturday.
Bruce du Plessis told the wprugby.com website: “No parent ever wants to receive a phone call like we did in Saturday, but we cannot begin to express our gratitude to the on-field medical team of WP Rugby, ER24 and anyone else involved in saving our son’s life.
“Daniel is showing a steady improvement and although he has a long recovery period ahead, we are so grateful to everyone – including all the well-wishers in the rugby community, most of whom we have never even met before.”
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