
Share
26th August 2018
10:08pm BST

"It's funny on the night of the drawn Kerry game my brother was standing there waiting for me," said Hughes on Tyrone: The Unbreakable Bond. "He said 'we're so proud of you our boy' and that really comforted me at the time. It surprised me because it was the first time he had ever said anything like that to me. "For him to say that to me, and that he was proud of me, and that that was the last time he ever watched me play football, for me it was an even easier decision to go out and make him prouder."Hughes' passing followed on from the loss of Tyrone minor Paul McGirr who collapsed and later died after a collision in the Ulster semi-final against Armagh.
The team had to endure a lot of grief during their run to the All-Ireland final but for Hughes football was as an outlet to escape the tragedies.
"I suppose you don't know how you cope with it until it's at your front door. As a team we got through the loss of Paul [McGirr] and then a few months later this happens to my brother Paul. "It was an outlet I suppose and I was lucky to be involved in a great panel with a great group of lads. It gave me a focus outside of the tragedy."
Explore more on these topics: