Star supports legacy fund inspired by childhood pal

ACTOR Matthew Rhys has thrown his support behind a new fund set up to continue the remarkable legacy of his childhood friend Paul-Andre Blundell, who died months after being left paralysed by a freak rugby tackle.

- GLEN WILLIAMS Football Writer

Blundell affectionately known as “PA” - represented Wales at under-19 level but was paralysed from the chin down while playing for Keynsham against Maidenhead in 2001. Despite making progress in rehabilitation, he died suddenly just five months later, aged just 26, after a blood clot formed in his lung.

His death shocked Welsh rugby and devastated his family and friends. Among them was acting star Rhys, who is known for such roles as Kevin Walker in Brothers & Sisters and Philip Jennings in The Americans, for which he received two Golden Globe Award nominations and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Rhys grew up with Blundell in Cardiff and says he has never forgotten the tragedy.

"Paul-Andre was my good friend since childhood," said Rhys, who is patron of the new PA Blundell Legacy Fund. "To see him paralysed during the rugby accident, totally dependent even months later, and then his death from an embolism, was utterly devastating.