Rugby player Max Oliver dies of cardiac arrest on train despite being given all-clear after 'heart flutters'

A 31-year-old rugby player given the all-clear after having 'heart flutters' collapsed and died on a train as he made his way to work. Max Oliver was on a train between Newbury and Reading on September 5 when he went into cardiac arrest.

Despite the best efforts of an off-duty police officer and paramedics on the scene, he was pronounced dead when he arrived at hospital. The rugby captain worked in sales at events firm, The Hyve Group, and had just moved to Newbury with fiancée Molly, 27, and their pet pug, Gigi.

Since his passing, a fundraiser in his honour has raised more than £41,000 - money which will go towards getting more people heart screenings. Rebecca Oliver, Max's aunt, said he had been undergoing tests for “fluttering” in his chest before he died, but was given the go ahead to continue playing rugby - and relatives thought all was well.

"It was horrendous. What’s bizarre is that I had texted him at 10.46 on the 5 September to ask how he was, and in the same minute I received a text from my brother to say that he hadn’t made it. When my phone pinged, I thought it was Max," the 45-year-old said. "We were all really close. It was a massive shock and still is. It still doesn’t really feel real. Everyone is still reeling from it."

Max was captain of the Bishop’s Stortford Chindits rugby team, in Hertfordshire, and the Saturday after his death the team had a match which was attended by his dad Perry, mum Liz, and his younger brother Ted, 27. A crowd of 605 people observed a minute’s applause in his honour.

The funeral was on the October 11, and the wake was held at Bishop’s Stortford Rugby Club - where his wedding reception was planned to take place in May. A touching video from the day shows a crowd gathered outside the club applauding as the hearse drove through on its way to the crematorium.

At the service, aunt Rebecca read a quote from Ricky Gervais - who she says was Max’s favourite comedian. The performing arts school owner says the turnout was huge, and it was a lovely funeral.

"There were hundreds of people at the funeral, they couldn’t all fit in," she said. "When you looked around there were people of all ages, everyone from every walk of life was at his funeral. One person there had flown all the way from Canada, and he had only met Max four or five times.

"For someone so young to have impacted so many people is amazing. He made such a huge impact in such a short time. The amount of love there for Max was overwhelming, you could feel it.

"It is a shame that Max wasn’t there, because he would have loved it. All of his friends were in bits sobbing, because you don’t expect at 31 to lose your friend. There was lots of laughter which he would have loved. He was known for his sense of humour and his wit."

The JustGiving page is raising funds for the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young, with heart screenings set to be held in the area where he lived - including at his old school, The Bishop’s Stortford High School, and his beloved rugby club.

“The fundraiser was set up the day after he died because my brother (Max's father) was so desperate to make something good out of this horrific tragedy," Rebecca added. "It is an attempt to stop anyone else’s family from living through what we have been living through.

"I knew how popular Max was, but £41,000 is amazing. I would rather give every penny back and have Max back. But the more money raised the more people we could potentially save."