New details come to light about Nicho Hynes' heroic act to save life of complete stranger

New details have been revealed about Nicho Hynes' efforts to save the life of a complete stranger who was about to jump off a bridge near Wollongong last weekend. Rumours were doing the rounds on social media on Monday that Hynes had helped prevent someone from dying by suicide.

The Cronulla Sharks halfback confirmed to 2GB presenter Spiro Christopoulos that the incident did take place, saying: “Yeah, mate. It happened. Crazy stuff."

On Tuesday, new details came to light about exactly what occurred. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Hynes was travelling in a car with Sharks assistant coaches Steve Price and Daniel Holdsworth when they witnessed a man in a distressed state on the Sea Cliff Bridge at Stanwell Park - south of Sydney.

Holdsworth, who was driving the car, pulled over at the side of the bridge and the trio approached the man, who was standing on the wrong side of the railing. The middle-aged man was reportedly agitated and saying "I've had enough".

Hynes and Price managed to speak to the man while Holdsworth called the police, and Hynes and Price then grabbed him by the arms and pulled him to safety. The man reportedly recognised Hynes, while he and former St George Illawarrra coach Price managed to calm him down by talking about rugby league.

The trio from the Sharks then reportedly drove the man away and helped him get medical assistance. The Herald also reports that Hynes and Price contacted the man on Monday to check on him, and invited him to a Cronulla game when he feels up to it.

Nicho Hynes to miss eight weeks with brutal leg injury

Hynes is an ambassador for the Gotcha4Life foundation and has been open and honest about his own mental health struggles in the past. The incident in Stanwell Park came just 24 hours before he suffered a devastating leg injury at Sharks training that will see him miss the next eight weeks.

Hynes had to be assisted from the field after going down in agony on his ankle, and scans revealed on Tuesday that he suffered a fracture and complete rupture of the syndesmosis ligament. The Sharks said their star halfback is expected to miss the next eight weeks, meaning he won't be back until the final round of the regular season.

"It has been confirmed that Nicho has a complete syndesmosis rupture, plus a tibia fracture to his left ankle," Sharks performance boss Nathan Pickworth said. "He will undergo surgery tomorrow (Wednesday), with an estimated return to the field of approximately eight weeks."

Leading journalist David Riccio reported on Tuesday morning how the incident has completely rattled the Sharks. “My spies at Shark Park told me that they can’t remember a more sombre dressing room than yesterday when Nicho Hynes collapsed on the ground,” he said on SEN radio. “He was screaming and he was holding his ankle.

“He was carried from the field and I understand it was at the end of a routine ball playing session. Nicho was jumping to retrieve a bouncing kick, jumped off his leg and landed awkwardly on his ankle. He was taken straight to a medical centre for x-rays and he received MRI scans as well late (on Monday) night."

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Greg Alexander said the Hynes injury is a huge blow for Cronulla, but the Sharks will take confidence in games they won earlier in the season without him. “There have been some wins without Nicho,” Alexander said. “They went down to Parramatta but have beaten the Melbourne Storm and the Brisbane Broncos without him. It will give them confidence anyway. There is a bit of a shining light.”

Readers seeking support and information can contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636, Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.