- Hughes’ death plunged the sport into mourning in 2014
- Clarke regarded the batsman as his little brother.
Former Australian Test captain Michael Clarke has revealed his anguish over the death of his great teammate Phillip Hughes almost 10 years ago after the star’s family asked him to be in the hospital room when he was taken off life support.
Hughes was just 25 years old when he was hit in the neck by a goalkeeper while playing for NSW in a Sheffield Shield match against South Australia on 25 November 2014.
He was operated on and put into a coma, but died at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney two days later, with his family and Clarke at his bedside, leaving the cricket world in mourning.
‘He won’t let you. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life,” Clarke said of being there when Hughes’ father Greg turned off the life support machine.
‘Unfortunately, I have had too many people close to me pass away.
‘People say it gets easier. As you get older, you may find ways to adapt, but I don’t think it will get any easier. It’s still devastating.
‘They just asked me to stay and I tried to be the intermediary between listening to what the doctors were saying and then explaining it to them in some way, because they were so excited.
‘They didn’t want me to leave, so I didn’t. I wouldn’t dare.
Clarke (left) and Hughes (right) were exceptionally close before the batsman’s death left the cricket world devastated in November 2014.
Clarke (pictured shortly after her partner’s death) was asked to stay with Hughes’ family when Phillip’s life support was taken off at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital.
Former Australian team doctor Peter Brukner, who also spent a lot of time in hospital monitoring Hughes, paid tribute to the way Clarke conducted himself.
“He was incredibly supportive of both parents, Phillip’s brother and sister,” Brukner said. news corporation.
‘He was with them in all the decisions that were communicated to them with the doctors and in the interrogations.
‘They felt comfortable with him and he was immediately part of the family during that time.
‘It was hard for him. He had lost his little brother (Hughes). He obviously had a very special relationship with Phil.
Clarke expanded on those horrible days in the hospital in her autobiography My Story.
Nearly 10 years after Hughes’ death, Clarke says dealing with the tragedy hasn’t gotten any easier for him.
“As they take me to the room where they are waiting, Hughesy passes by in a cart,” Clarke wrote.
“He seems normal. He still has a layer of sweat on his face and his hand, when I hold it, is still warm.
After initially focusing on how soon Hughes would return to the field and when he would once again wear Australia’s famous baggy green cap, reality began to hit Clarke, who said his teammate had become unrecognizable to him.
“I guess I probably tried to tell myself that there was a chance that he would be okay,” he revealed to 60 Minutes in 2016, before adding, “But I think I knew there wasn’t.”
Clarke was one of the pallbearers at Hughes’ funeral, where he gave a heartfelt speech.
‘I don’t know about you, but I’m still looking for it. “I know it’s crazy, but I hope at any moment to get a call from him or see his face appear around the corner to call me into the next room to tell me a story and laugh,” he said.
‘Rest in peace, my little brother. I’ll see you in the middle.