The Stuart Mangan documentary - The day my life changed

Early last week I let you know that there was a show coming up on TV about Stuart Mangan , the young player who suffered a horrific rugby injury while playing for his club in London. Thanks to the help of a friend, weve managed to organise that you can watch the full version of this touching documentary right here on the site.

If youre not familiar with the story, Irishman Stuart broke his neck when playing rugby in London in 2008. Only 24 at the time, the young flyhalf went into a ruck and suffered what has been described as one of the worst spinal injuries to be seen in the sport.

Stuart was left with no feeling below his neck as the C1 complete break meant his life changed dramatically in an instant. Requiring a ventilator to breathe, and 24 hour supervision, this is the story of what the next 16 months were like for him.

Tragically, Stuart contracted an illness and passed away a year ago, in August 2009.

This is not a rugby documentary. It is however the story of how a talented young man, who had the world at his feet, had his, and his loved one's lives changed forever after something that happened on the rugby field.

His story is that of courage and determination, and as youll see, he showed remarkable strength given the circumstances that he found himself in for the last few months of his short, but eventful, life.

We all play and love the wonderful game of rugby, and while these type of injuries are incredibly rare, its important that we come together when they do happen. Donate what you can, give your time, and make a difference where possible.

Once again, this is a heartbreaking story and rugby is not featured prominently in it. I thought it was important to share with you all though as Stuarts enthusiasm and determination is infectious and inspiring to say the least. Its just under an hour long and tracks his new life after the injury, up until his untimely passing.

The documentary is in 5 parts, so it's presented to you below as a playlist. That means that it will start at Part 1, and change to Part 2 automatically, etc. You can control which part you see by clicking the button to the right of the play button.


Total time: 56 mins
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RD Cares
Rugbydump has a new initiative that hopes to make a difference by creating awareness for those who have been severely injured and need the help of others from the rugby community. Young Ben Leia is one such player, as he broke his neck in January of this year in Samoa.

You can find out more about RD Cares and Ben by following the link. It's a work in progress that will be added to and improved as we go along. If you know of organisations or individuals that need help, please get in touch. Thanks.
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