Rugby captain paralysed in scrum dies at the age of 30

Jonny Mitchell, who had played for six years at North Berwick Rugby Club before his accident, is said to have died from “natural causes”.

He spent almost a year being treated in Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital after an accident in a match with Hawick Linden in 2005.

Scottish internationalists led fundraising efforts to support the player, and to help his wife Joanna and their two daughters cope with the challenges facing a wheel-chair bound husband and father.

Mr Mitchell, who was in his third season as club captain when tragedy struck, dislocated two vertebrae in his neck and damaged his spinal cord.

Jim Littlefair, North Berwick RFC president and a family friend, helped establish the Jonny Mitchell Trust Fund to assist the player and his family, as Mr Mitchell was unable to return to their home.

Players across the country threw their weight behind the appeal by carrying out their own fundraising efforts.

Mr Littlefair said: “Jonny never once said ‘why me?’ and, as an experienced front row player, he accepted that what happened to him was just a freak accident.

“He was a tremendous character and was passionate about the game of rugby. He always said, if he could, he’d be back training with the team.

“Jonny’s death is a terrible loss for the club and everyone involved with rugby.

“All of our lives changed the day Jonny was injured. He’s been in our thoughts since that day and he will remain there.”

Scottish Rugby Union chiefs said numerous professional and club players had joined in the fund-raising efforts and the family received help from the charities Hearts and Balls and the Murrayfield Cententary Fund, which aims to assist players, and those connected with the game, who have been seriously injured.

SRU president Ian McLauchlan said: “Jonny showed such tremendous courage in the face of adversity.

“He loved the game of rugby and even after his injury didn’t turn away from the sport.

“I’d like to pass on sincere condolences, from everyone at Scottish Rugby, to Jonny’s family for their loss.”

Former Scottish internationalist Gregor Townsend, one of the patrons of the trust fund, told his Twitter followers: “Really sorry to hear that former North Berwick captain Jonny Mitchell has passed away. My thoughts are with his family.”

The injuries sustained by Mr Mitchell, who was born and bred in North Berwick, triggered a new debate about the safety of rugby scrums, although he himself always insisted he had been the victim of a freak accident.

He told The Scotsman at the end of 2005: “I’ve played the game since I was 14 and it has given me a lot, so I have no bitterness to it.

“And I don’t believe in banning scrums. Having played in games where scrums went uncontested, I think they are an essential part of rugby.

“You can’t change the game because of what happened to me. It was a freak accident – I’ve been in thousands of scrums and never had a problem.”

Mr Mitchell died in the early hours of yesterday morning. The SRU said details of his funeral would be announced at a later date.