Young family of rugby player w

‘Stevovo’ steams ahead towards the opposition defence

Young family of rugby player who died on the pitch supported by club’s superhuman fundraising

Masiphumelele RFC have dealt with tragedy in the bravest way possible

Young family of rugby player w

‘Stevovo’ steams ahead towards the opposition defence

 

  • As General Manager Brendan Wainwright puts it, this club is all about ‘life beyond rugby’. When faced with a grim reality, Masi RFC proved that they are people of their words. What they are doing for the Jacobs family is genuinely moving…

Steven Jacobs was a larger-than-life character both on and off the pitch. His broad smile and infectiously positive attitude served as an inspiration to his family and his teammates in the Cape Town suburb of Noordhoek.

However, the man affectionately known as ‘Stevovo’ had his life tragically cut short whilst giving it everything for his beloved Masiphumelele, suffering a collision of heads with an opposition player.

Cape Town Rugby

Stevovo had broken his C3 vertebrae and suffered damage to his oesophagus. His brain was starved of oxygen, and although he fought through to get to the hospital for his family to say their goodbyes, he was unable to ever breathe on his own again.

Heartbreakingly, his life support was switched off, and his wife and three children (aged 11, six, and two) were left to face the harshest of all nightmare scenarios.

Masi RFC

But Masi RFC were not about to let a few of their own deal with this by themselves: They immediately sprung into action and created a fundraising drive that has smashed its R25,000 target within a matter of days.

Brendan is absolutely beaming with the response their BackABuddy campaign has had received and paid tribute to the ‘special’ club that Stevovo will always belong to:

“The best thing about Masi isn’t what’s happening with us, but with our kids: Our children are playing with kids of different races and we are bringing our children up in an environment which is fully inclusive.”

We as a club have set up a Trust account for all these funds so they will earn interest and we will distribute it to the family as and when they need it. We want to try and make it a sustainable income for the family so that if we can consistently raise money once or twice a year and keep topping up the fund, they will hopefully have some income for a few years going forward.”

Life Beyond Rugby

What is more, Brendan isn’t happy to just ‘do enough’ for the Jacobs family: He quotes the R25,000 raised as just ‘the first target’ that has been achieved, and thinks the family need around R40,000 to help ease their current financial burdens.

A fixture to honour Steve’s life and contribution to the game has been confirmed at their home ground on Noordhoek Main Rd for Saturday 9th September. You can continue to help Mrs Jacobs and her family on their BackABuddy page.