Last Friday, Lions lock Hyron Andrews was tragically found unresponsive in a shower cubicle inside the hotel’s spa area on the island of Île de Ré, where the Lions were staying ahead of their Champions Cup match.
In a statement from SA Rugby, it was suggested that he had passed away “following an accident” involving a fall, while many reports suggested that emergency personnel treated him for cardiac arrest, but resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.
Under the circumstances, a full autopsy was ordered by the public prosecutor to establish the exact cause of death – specifically to determine whether a medical event (such as a cardiac arrest) led to a fall or vice versa.
According to the Lions, that autopsy is expected to be completed within the next 24 hours, and the club will be guided by the family in terms of releasing information.
Lions CEO Rudolf Straeuli is understood to have visited Andrews’ wife, Maighlin, and their two sons, Hendrix and Emerson, as the club seeks to offer support in any way required.
Lions leaning on each other after death of Hyron Andrews
Assistant coach Julian Redelinghuys said the team continued to navigate this period as best they could.
“The sorrow everyone felt, and the way it was handled, felt authentic.
“The way it was handled – locally, abroad, our leadership, coaches and management and players – felt really respectful and that gave us, to a big extent, some closure.
“Everyone grieves differently. You have to respect everyone’s process,” he added.
“We just said we want to be respectful towards the family at this time. That was our viewpoint from the start. How can we be most respectful towards the family, in our actions, what we decide?
“For everyone to go through this process, I think it helps being in a team.”
Battling through challenging circumstances
The Lions completed their fixture against La Rochelle last weekend, but suffered an understandable defeat in the circumstances, and they will next face Edinburgh in the URC.
“We’ve been saying this since it happened: there’s no manual for this. We don’t know how the players are going to respond,” Redelinghuys commented.
“We can only do what we can to support the guys as much as we can and do what we think will be best for the weekend.
“I don’t think there’s any team that has had to go through a thing like this, where a player died in camp a day before a game and then they were on tour for another two weeks.”