'Gifted' teen rugby captain died after being rushed to hospital with viral infection

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Tributes have been paid to a talented teenage rugby player who died after suffering a heart attack thought to be caused by a viral infection.Joseph Gardiner, 15, was admitted to hospital after suffering from shortness of breath and later suffered a cardiac arrest.The keen rugby player has been described as a 'gifted young man' who had a 'contagious charm' by devastated loved ones.Speaking on behalf of Joseph's parents John and Helen, family friend Adam Brooke said an undiagnosed heart defect is believed to have contributed to his death, Wales Online reports."It completely came out of the blue – there was no prior warning or anything," he said.Joesph had been speaking to Mr Brooke's son shortly before he died and was hoping to be released from hospital later that evening.But shortly later, Joseph suffered a heart attack which is thought to have be caused by the viral infection attacking his heart.

Mr Brooke said: "What [Joseph's family] have found out now is that he has had a heart defect since birth but nobody ever knew about it because he was never ill. "Apparently this virus attacks the heart.

If he didn't have the heart problem it would have just been a cough or a cold that would usually be fine but because of this heart condition [it was more serious]." Joseph was recently named player of the year and was the captain of the under-16s team at Pyle RFC.

He leaves behind his parents and seven siblings.Mr Brooke, who is a member of Pyle RFC, said Joseph's sudden death had left his family "distraught"."It has just hit everyone for six.