Sport obsession may have been a factor in death

The family of Emmet Neville, a talented all-rounder who died nine years ago at just 21, believe sudden cardiac death was to blame for his passing, writes Noel Baker

IT was like the famous scene from Rocky, where Sly Stallone’s character runs up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, transposed to the northside of Cork City.

Emmet Neville was a superfit sportsman who had captained the Glen Rovers hurlers at U21 level, had captained St Nicholas’ U21 footballers and was also playing basketball for Neptune. The only issue was that in his own mind, he was not getting enough minutes on the basketball court — so something had to be done.