The owner of a gym used by the boxer says he was about to begin treatment for depression, writes MARK HENNESSY, London Editor
OLYMPIC BRONZE medallist Darren Sutherland told a boxing colleague following his return from Ireland after a summer holiday that he was struggling with life in London.
Belfast-born John Rooney, the owner of Rooney’s Gym in Holyrood Street where Sutherland trained, said: “He said he was finding it a bit hard, but that he knew it was his life. He told me, ‘I have to do it, but I don’t have to do it forever’.
“I told him to come and speak to me any time he wanted, come to the house and have dinner, but he just didn’t take it up,” said Mr Rooney. He added that members and staff in the gym, near Guy’s Hospital, “are absolutely dumb-founded”.
Sutherland came to the gym "three or four times a week", until it was partially closed in recent weeks for refurbishment. "But he told me that he would be in on Monday and that we would have the crack," Mr Rooney told The Irish Times.
“He didn’t come in. Later, Barry Lawrence [a leading boxing trainer] came in and I asked him where Darren was and he said that he believed that he and Sutherland’s trainer, Frank Maloney, were ‘doing something together for the day’,” said Mr Rooney
He said he believed that Mr Maloney had called to Sutherland’s flat in Bromley at 3pm on Monday to take him to see medical experts so that they could begin treating the Olympic medallist for depression.
“My understanding is that he [Mr Maloney] went there to help him and to take him to see somebody,” said Mr Rooney, who added that every time he saw the boxer he “had a smile on his face and a joke for everyone”.
“But depression doesn’t just happen overnight. It’s there for a long time,” said Mr Rooney, who manages Martin Lindsay, the Northern Irish International Boxing Federation’s current youth featherweight champion.
Following the shock of discovering Sutherland, Mr Maloney (55) was rushed to the Princess Royal Hospital in Farnborough with chest pains, although hospital authorities later ruled out initial reports that he had had a heart attack.
In a statement, Mr Maloney said: “It is very sad and unexpected. My thoughts are with Darren’s family and I hope their privacy at this difficult time will be respected by the media. It is a tragedy for Ireland and the world of boxing.”
Last night, a spokesman for the Princess Royal Hospital said Mr Maloney would be discharged today. The hospital spokesman l said: “I was in with him earlier and he is in good form and said he is looking forward to getting back out there.”