Yogi Davies: Inquest concludes rugby player died from pneumonia
Tetraplegic dad-of-two passed away peacefully at home in Bala
Eryl Crump
Brian Davies with his wife Sue on his return home after being in hosptial for 16 months
A rugby player paralysed from the neck down after a scrum collapsed died more than six years later from pneumonia linked to his injuries.
Bryan 'Yogi' Davies passed away peacefully at his home in Bala in the company of his family last August.
The 56-year-old dad-of-two was left tetraplegic in the accident as he played for Bala in April 2007 an inquest at Caernarfon heard.
North Wales senior coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones was told the incident occurred just minutes into the match against Nant Conwy, which was planned to be his final game.
He spent a total of three and a half years in a specialist hospital at Southport after the incident, which left him without any feeling in his body from the neck down.
After 18 months at Southport he came home in 2008 after kind-hearted locals and rugby followers from all over the world gave their time and money to raise £200,000 to adapt his house.
Bryan "Yogi" Davies
But he was forced to return to hospital 18 months later after one of his lungs collapsed.
Last January Bryan returned home for good – giving his family "the best Christmas ever".
Dr Robin Davies, his GP, said the paralysis prevented him from breathing normally and he had been on a ventilator the whole time since the incident.
"Due to the problems he faced he was prone to chest infections and the antibiotics could cause him severe stomach pains. These pains were very difficult to control and as a result he was reluctant for me to prescribe antibiotics, and this in turn caused him more problems.
"These repeated infections, in my opinion, led to the final event," the doctor said.
Mr Davies' wife Susan thanked the GP and his colleagues for their care. "It was challenging at times but they gave him excellent care right to the end," she said.
Mrs Davies added: "He was a very determined person and I think the fact he was in such good physical health when this happened helped him. But each time he had an infection he'd get better but never quite as well as before."
The cause of death was given as pneumonia due to tetraplegia caused by a spinal injury. The coroner concluded it was an accident. Mr Pritchard Jones said: "The evidence goes back to what happened on the rugby pitch."
He arranged his own funeral
Hundreds of people attended Bryan Davies' funeral last September. They included friends and representatives from community and charitable organisations as well as rugby clubs across Wales.
He had made all the arrangements himself and stipulated he didn't want anybody to be in black and wearing ties.
Bryan's wife Susan said: "He asked for people to wear rugby or football shirts or anything that isn't too fancy or traditional."
He also asked that any money raised during a collection at the funeral, which was held at Bala's rugby pitch, be put towards building an extension to Bala Rugby Club so that a kitchen can be built.
Susan added: "For the last 18 months, he has been working towards getting plans through for the extension at Maes Gwyniad so that children can sit down and have something to eat after a match. He felt strongly that Bala was the only rugby club without those facilities."
Right up until his death Bryan had been busy setting up The Yogi Foundation – a charity to help families like his own in the same situation –helping them to have holidays and respite care.
That work is been done in conjunction with Spirit Care – the company who cared for Bryan.
Soon after his death an English version of his autobiography entitled The Scrum That Changed My Life was published.
A Welsh version – Mewn Deg Eiliad (In Ten Seconds) was published in 2012.
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