Now the promising rugby league player has taken his first steps on the road to recovery.
“Each day he’s progressing,” said father Wayne Stack.
“He can get up and walk with a walking frame, it’s going to be a bit of a long process, but better than what the alternative was looking like.
“If anyone's going to make it through, it’s going to be him.”
On August 4, concerned family took Seamus to Christchurch Hospital emergency department with flu symptoms and a persistent headache.
He was admitted, treated for dehydration and discharged the next day.
But things took a turn for the worse that night, with Seamus complaining of sore toes. The next morning he was delirious and did not know where he was.
Wayne took him to Riccarton Clinic where an ambulance was immediately called.
“There was something seriously wrong because he very seldom gets sick, he never complains about anything,” Wayne said.
“For him to be complaining that it’s sore, he was certainly in a bad way, so it was just a matter of letting the professionals do their stuff.
“(It was) very scary, we obviously were worried about him and it took a bit of time for the medical people to determine what was wrong with him.”
He has been in hospital since, and had surgery last Wednesday to insert a mechanical valve into his heart, replacing a part damaged beyond repair by endocarditis caused by the infection.
Seamus was in a coma until Friday, and on Sunday was moved out of ICU into a cardiac ward, but he is still battling the effects of the infection, including breathing difficulties caused by fluid in his lungs, which could delay an expected release from hospital later this week.
Wayne said with the ongoing issues it was not known when he would get out of hospital.
“He’s trying his best, but he knows he’s in the right place at the moment.”
Wayne said hospital staff and the medical specialists were great.
“They’re doing an absolutely fantastic job, we couldn’t fault it.”
Friends and teammates of the Hornby Panthers premier grade wing and Canterbury Bulls rep have been at his side.
“He’s on the mend, he’s a hard little nugget,” said Champ Betham.
“He’s looking real run down and doesn’t look the same, but it’s just good to hear that he was recovering well.”
The Panthers are holding a hangi on Saturday, September 6 to raise funds for Seamus and his family, and for another player, Eti Collins, whose newborn baby is also in hospital.
Panthers head coach and organiser Corey Lawrie said it was “humbling” to see how much support there had been so far.
“I’ve had heaps of support from the fans, I’ve thrown it out there and also I’m trying to keep up and keep track of what I’ve got and what I need, it’s been quite humbling actually to see the support, we just have to get it done now.”
Orders for food from the hangi opened on Tuesday. Lawrie said he was hoping for a good turnout.
“A lot of people will just donate for the sake of it anyway, so we should be at 200 orders, hopefully.”
Once discharged from hospital, Seamus will face six weeks of intravenous antibiotics, getting drip-fed into him around the clock to fight the infection.
Wayne said with Seamus likely to be on blood thinners for the rest of his life, it could spell the end of his contact sports career as well as his hopes of joining the police.
Wayne is a former police officer.
“But he can still have a very active life,” he said.
“He’s always at the gym, he’s run half marathons, he’s the kind of kid who needs to be doing something.
“He’d only just registered to do the Crater Rim (ultramarathon) 53km, he’d been training for that.”
Wayne said his son was putting on a brave face about the ordeal.
“He’s fairly stoic, he doesn't say a lot.
“But I'm sure there'll be times when he's feeling pretty down and probably questioning why it’s happened to him, but he's never said that to us.”
