#dumb and numb
Quote GAA club ‘numb’ after death of one of Tyrone’s ‘most outstanding forwards
Jessica Rice and Adrian Rutherford
Yesterday at 13:40
A Co Tyrone GAA club have described their devastation following the death of a talented athlete from Tyrone who died suddenly in Australia just days after moving to the country.
Matty McGuigan, 24, passed away after falling ill at the weekend.
His brother Darragh posted a tribute on social media: “Forever young, love you forever. Very grateful to have you as a brother for all of my life, don’t know how this has happened or why - I’ll never understand.”
Matty was a former captain of Kildress Wolfe Tones based in Dungannon.
Club chairman Dominic McGurk said the whole community of Kildress was “devastated” following Matty’s passing.
“We are just numb - there are no words to describe it, the whole community are all just totally devastated,” he said.
Matty left for Australia alongside his girlfriend Clodadgh on Wednesday.
“We didn’t want him to go but a young lad like that - all they want to do is travel the world. We didn’t know how long he’d be there but he is tragically coming home sooner than we thought,” Mr McGurk said.
Matty was previously part of the Tyrone minor squad and won the Begleys Sports Golden Boot as Intermediate league top scorer for 2021.
“He was very talented, he was a top player and he had a fine left foot,” Mr McGurk said.
Matty was a well known player in the community, he played with the senior team and coached minors.
“Everyone is devastated, we have gathered his senior team and his minor team at the club now and we are just having a cup of tea and a chat because they are all just in shock at the minute.”
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