The 26-year-old Shaun Mackay died in a Durban hospital, just over a week after suffering multiple injuries when struck by a car. BIG Breakfast host, Daryl Ilbury, said that, like everyone else on the station, he was "shocked and saddened by Shaun's death", especially since he and his team were guests in Durban at the time of the accident.
Even though the Brumbies were an opposition team in the Super 14, he said "there was a greater community of Super 14 supporters; and something like this unites us all". The show was inundated with calls from people wishing to express their feelings and to pass on messages of support.
A four-minute sample of calls were played on air. After the show Daryl contacted 1206 2CC, a news and talk station in Canberra, and chatted on-air with Mike Welsh, the host of the afternoon drive show. He then played the calls to the listeners of Mike's show.
"If it broadcast to the people of Canberra how genuinely sorry the people of Durban were about Shaun's death," said Ilbury, "and helped them realise we were united in their sorrow, then I think it was a good thing."
