Cronulla halfback has been involved in a heroic act over the weekend, helping talk a man who was considering taking his own life from a bridge south of Sydney.
Hynes, 28, has been open about his own battles with mental health and his intent to help others affected by the condition.
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It has since emerged the Sharks playmaker, alongside Cronulla assistant coaches Steve Price and Daniel Holdsworth, encountered a person contemplating suicide near Wollongong and managed to talk them down.
The story emerged from 2GB sports presenter Spiro Christopoulos, who told his listeners about the incident, which took place at the well known Sea Cliff Bridge.
The radio presenter stated he had sent a text message to Hynes in an effort to confirm the story and said the Cronulla half replied: “Yeah, mate. It happened. Crazy stuff.”
A further report from The Sydney Morning Herald confirmed the Sharks trio assisted in calming the middle-aged man down and pulling him to safety before driving him from the scene and getting him to medical help.
According to the SMH both Hynes and Price contacted the man on Monday to check up on him and promised to take him to a Sharks game whenever he felt up to it.
Earlier this year, Hynes helped launch Cronulla’s Mental Fitness Round and spoke about how much the cause means to him.
“I’ve been a big advocate over the last few years with my story and speaking about mental health,” Hynes said in May.
“I’ve spoken so much about it out loud, so I need to follow through with it.
“I felt like if I’m going to be someone who is an advocate for it and who speaks up, then I have to do something about it.
“There’s no better feeling than seeing a young kid or someone that messages me to tell me that I’ve changed their life.
“I don’t mean that to sound arrogant at all. But that’s better than scoring a try in any game of footy.
“Sometimes we can forget the impact we can have on people.
“Off the field is where I’d like to make a mark, it’s hard to put into words and how it makes me feel when someone tells me that I’ve been able to do that.”
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Hynes has faced his own battles in 2024, with his Sharks tumbling down the ladder after being the early pacesetters.
Now, the Sharks’ top-four hopes have suffered a devastating blow with confirmation Hynes will be out for roughly two months after scans revealed significant damage to his ankle.
Hynes went down at Sharks training on Monday and it was later confirmed he’d suffered a broken leg and complete syndesmosis rupture.
The Sharks are clinging onto fourth spot after losing five of their past six matches, including three narrow defeats in a row where Hynes missed a couple of late chances that could have flipped the results.
He shanked a sideline conversion attempt after the siren in the two-point loss to the Dolphins and then missed a regulation field goal in their golden point loss to the Bulldogs to cap a tough few weeks for the former Dally M Medal winner.
Hynes was also dropped by the NSW Blues following the state’s loss to Queensland in Game 1 of this year’s Origin series.
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The injury news is another blow for the fan favourite who has been the main man in attack since he joined the club, with the Sharks hopeful he’ll be back in time for the finals.
“It has been confirmed that Nicho has a complete syndesmosis rupture, plus a tibia fracture to his left ankle,” Sharks head of performance Nathan Pickworth said.
“He will undergo surgery tomorrow (Wednesday), with an estimated return to the field of approximately eight weeks.”
– with NewsWire