A Wellington teenager has died after suffering a fatal brain injury during a club rugby game in Porirua last weekend.
Daniel Baldwin displayed concussion symptoms and left the field near the end of a colts age-group game between his Wellington club and Paremata Plimmerton at Ngati Toa Domain on Saturday.
But his condition deteriorated rapidly and he was rushed to Wellington Hospital, where he underwent brain surgery on Saturday night and spent the days since in an induced coma.
The 19-year-old died last night, with his family - parents Len and Eva, and brothers Stefan and Markus - girlfriend, and other family and friends at his bedside.
They are now mourning the loss of a young man with an enormous zest for life, who had his future mapped out.
Mr Baldwin said the family are remembering the larger-than-life young man, with a strong moral compass, who embraced life in everything he did.
"To all of us he was always 'Dan, the man with the plan', he even called himself that."
Daniel loved dogs and had planned to become a New Zealand Police dog handler. He had done all the preparatory work, and was at Victoria University in the second year of a degree "tailor-made" for his future career path - psychology, statistics and criminology.
An active sportsman, from rugby and skiing, to having attained a black belt in karate, Daniel was always challenging himself to be the best he could, Mr Baldwin said.
"He wasn't the star on the rugby field, but he was the good, hard-working, committed, loyal team player. He loved the game."
With a chef for a father, Daniel also loved food, and along with his twin Stefan and younger brother Markus, had attained a great degree of skill in the kitchen. While at university, Daniel worked at Ortega Fish Shack and had upgraded his "kitchen assistant" job description to "Executive Kitchen Porter" or "EKP" on a label taped to his uniform.
He was a young man who loved having fun with his girlfriend Lucy and his mates, but also loved being at home with his parents and brothers. He was very proud of his mum Eva's Swedish heritage, and learnt to speak the language, conversing with his mother and grandmother.
The Baldwin family say they greatly appreciate all of the love, care and support they and Daniel have received over the past week. They understand there is media interest in the manner of Daniel's death, but asked for privacy as they grieve for him and had no further comment to make at this time.
