By Jeff Hampton
Former All Black Grahame Thorne has suffered a second family tragedy just on the eve of Christmas.
His son Bruce, a former star rugby player, has been killed in a car accident at Kroonstad - about 200km south of Johannesburg.
Grahame has already had to deal with another son who was severely injured after a rugby tackle went wrong three years ago.
Grahame played 10 tough tests and 29 matches for the All Blacks, and says he is still struggling to deal with the news.
GRAB
Grahame and his family have already had serious health problems with another son David, he is unable to speak or function properly after suffering a stroke.
David’s condition was brought on when he was tackled awkwardly in a rugby match.
“His mates have been fantastic, they've come from everywhere,” he said at the time of the accident.
“It is just the worry of every parent to see their son crashed.”
Bruce lived most of his life in South Africa with his mother but toured in New Zealand with the Transvaal rugby team 12 years ago.
He was a big man, two metres tall and held a law degree. He became a junior Springbok but he has always said rugby did not rule his life.
“Rugby's not very important to me it's great to play and to tour but there's much more important things in life,” he said while trialling for the Transvaal team.
Grahame is an ex-parliamentarian as well as an ex All Black and says one of the highlights of his life was playing in the parliamentary rugby team along with his son.
GRAB
Grahame now lives in Queenstown and does a variety of jobs including hosting a television cooking show.
He is a man who has tasted the highs and lows of life, he and one of his daughter’s are planning to fly to South Africa to farewell Bruce.
3 News