‘You better get here …’: Tearful Manly physio reveals frantic moments after NRL stars tragic collapse

The former head of physiotherapy at an NRL club has broken down in tears after describing how a young star collapsed during training.

The former head of physiotherapy for the Manly Sea Eagles has broken down in tears after describing how young player Keith Titmuss collapsed during training.

The 20-year-old forward lost consciousness during pre-season training at the team’s headquarters on Sydney’s northern beaches on November 23, 2020.

A coronial inquest heard several experts had concluded Mr Titmuss was suffering from heat stroke when he had a seizure after the first training session after the off-season.

Former Manly head of physiotherapy James Rahme told the inquest he attended the outdoor training session and noted Mr Titmuss was “keeping up” with the team.

Keith Titmuss collapsed at training on November 23, 2020 and died hours later. Picture: Facebook

The team then moved to an indoor gym for the second portion of the training and Mr Rahme returned to his office.

Less than an hour later, he told the inquest he received a panicked phone call.

“I remember sensing an urgency that things weren’t right,” Mr Rahme said.

One of the coaching staff told him “there’s something serious going on, you better get here” but didn’t provide Mr Titmuss’s name or any details of his collapse.

When he entered the indoor gym, the physiotherapist saw Mr Titmuss “moving around” in a jerky manner that “looked like a seizure”.

“He was moving around in like a backwards crawl, a commando crawl backwards, and it seemed involuntary,” Mr Rahme told the inquest.

Coaching staff spoke to Mr Titmuss as he seized “so he wouldn’t hurt himself” and to provide comfort to the distressed player.

A staff member also ran to fetch Dr Tony Delaney from his nearby office to provide assistance, telling him “one of our players is in real trouble”.

When the doctor arrived in the indoor gym, he saw Mr Titmuss arching his back, moving about by propelling himself with his legs and crying out.

He placed a paper bag lightly over the NRL player’s face in the hope of helping him breathe more evenly, but the spasms didn’t abate.

Mr Titmuss was a promising young NRL player.

He delivered the winning try for the Manly side in the 2017 Holden Cup.

“He was quite hot and sweaty,” Dr Delaney said.

He told the inquest he had never seen exertional heat stroke before treating Mr Titmuss, and he didn’t recognise that the fits could have been related to heat illness.

The 20-year-old’s temperature was determined to be nearly 42C, which one paramedic said was the highest they’d ever seen.

Dr Delaney did not have his medical bag with him, so he told the inquest he was unable to check Mr Titmuss’s temperature and “was only able to observe him”.

If he had known the NRL player had a temperature of more than 40C, he told the inquest he would have considered cooling measures.

However, Mr Titmuss’ spasms and “strength and size” would have prevented coaching staff from being able to place him in an ice bath.

After two minutes, paramedics arrived and took over emergency care for Mr Titmuss.

When the 20-year-old was rushed to hospital, Dr Delaney said he was “optimistic” about his prognosis.

“I didn’t regard him as being very, very unwell,” he said.

Mr Titmuss died hours later after he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest in hospital.

His parents Paul and Lafo Titmuss attended the coronial inquest into their son’s death. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Mr Rahme remembered Mr Titmuss as “gentle” and “kind”. He broke down in tears as he offered his condolences to the player’s family, who sat in the courtroom.

“He was loved by the boys,” the physiotherapist said to Mr Titmuss’s family.

“I still believe a lot of the boys are affected by what happened.”

Mr Titmuss had been on the verge of making his debut with the Manly Sea Eagles after being named in the club’s top-30 squad.

His mother, father, and sister nodded sadly as the physiotherapist addressed them tearfully.

Mr Rahme said he hoped the inquest would provide some guidance about how heat stroke could be treated in future so no one else would lose their lives.

Originally published as ‘You better get here …’: Tearful Manly physio reveals frantic moments after NRL stars tragic collapse