British Rugby is mourning - Mike Gregory past away
By: Jane Richy
Mike Gregory, former Great Britain Captain, recently passed away after spending his last four years in a wheel chair.
Gregory started as a player and was a distinguished captain for Warrington and Great Britain. Afterwards, he started his coaching assistant job at Saint Helens back in 1996 where he spent three successful seasons, later on he took the coaching lead at Swinton, and in 2001 at Wigan he took care of the Senior Academy. In 2002 he guided the England Academy team to the historic series victory beating Australia. In 2005 he also trained Wales for the World Cup.
By 2004 he began to suffer from a progressive muscular atrophy, a form of motor neuronal disease that affects nerves and muscles, the illness blocks brain signals that direct the muscles affecting speech and weight loss to confined him to a wheelchair. On November 18th, he lost consciousness and died today. His family attributes the illness to and insect bite he suffered in Australia in 2003.
The last three years of his life he battled the illness and won many fans due to his courage. Among them his former Britain teammate and best man in his wedding Joe Lydon who said “Anyone who played with him, against him, or watched him play would have respected Mike for his courage” (…). “He brought that same courage to his fight against an appalling illness.”
Erica Gregory, his wife, as biochemist, traced the root of his condition and believes that the reason was a bite he suffered while coaching Britain academy team back in 2003 in Australia and the subsequent contraction of an infection known as borrelia caused by an agent of Lyme Disease.
Gregory’s dead brought mourn to rugby, for the lost of an excellent competitive player and highly motivated coach. “On the pitch, he was a warrior. Off it, he was full of life, full of fun. As a coach, he was a guy who cared deeply for his players. It was heartbreaking to see him suffer recently. There have been a lot of events, which showed how much people thought of Mike.” said his school classmate and teammate Shaun Edward.
Mike Gregory was unaware of how serious his health condition was until he collapsed in 2003 Grand Final. The last occasion for him as a coach was in charge of Wigan in the Challenge Cup final in Cardiff, after that he travel to the United States to start receiving treatment but his condition kept on weakening.
He once said “As it is for players, it is for coaches, to represent your home town is a special privilege. The support of the players and fans has been exceptional and this has been shown in many ways” and will remember it as an example of dedication.
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Jane Richy is a leading writer on the sports world and the sports betting industry. Feel free to reprint this article in its whole on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.