Police probe incident as GAA star fights for life after US debut

WITNESSES to an incident which left a promising Irish GAA player fighting for his life in the US have told police the alleged attacker said “you won’t get up from that” as the victim lay on the ground.

Doctors at San Francisco General Hospital also told police they believe the injuries suffered by 22-year-old Mark McGovern on Saturday night were caused by blunt force trauma to the head.

The GAA player was making his debut for Ulster San Francisco against the San Francisco Celts when he suffered the injury.

He had arrived in California the previous Monday.

Police yesterday asked for further witnesses to come forward. So far, nobody has made a statement to police to say they saw the Fermanagh man being struck.

Two witnesses, an umpire and one of Mr McGovern’s teammates, told police they saw an opposing player stand over Mr McGovern as he lay on the ground and heard him say: “You won’t get up from that.”

Police are carrying out a full investigation. There were upwards of 50 people at the game, but a police spokesperson said only a small number of people had volunteered statements.

Club chairman Joe Duffy said: “I went to collect him from the airport and he is just a lovely lad. We had a game of golf and he showed himself to be a pure gentleman. He fitted in straight away at training and everybody warmed to him.”

Mr McGovern was staying at an apartment in the Soma area of San Francisco, a central location with nightclubs, bars and restaurants.

Describing the match, Mr Duffy said: “It was a good, competitive game of football but there was no sign anything like that was going to happen. There was no malice in the game so it was completely out of the blue.”

Mr Duffy was on the scene when Mr McGovern collapsed on the ground. He didn’t see the incident and presumed he had twisted his ankle: “But when I got to him, I realised he wasn’t getting up. He was having spasms and he was not conscious so we phoned 911 immediately.”

Mr McGovern was taken to San Francisco General Hospital and his family flew over from Ireland. They, along with friends who travelled to the US with him, have held a bedside vigil since.

Doctors said Mr McGovern remains in a stable but critical condition.

Oliver McElhone of the Ulster SF club added: “All our thoughts are with Mark and his family and we are praying that he will make a full recovery.”