Daughter of Jonah Lomu’s former manager Phil Kingsley Jones: ‘Dad kept saying to the end that he didn’t want to die’

Phil Kingsley Jones was a larger than life character loved in all rugby clubs across New Zealand, and in his native Wales, for his speaking engagements that left audiences in trouble.

And the 72-year-old, best known for managing professional rugby’s biggest superstar, Jonah Lomu, retained his trademark sense of humor as he battled severe ill health that led to his death on Tuesday.

Kingsley Jones died surrounded by loved ones, including his wife, Verina, and their two daughters Vikki and Rhianon, about five months after sustaining a serious injury in a fall at their Auckland home during the Covid-19 level 1 lockdown. .

In an interview with the Herald on Sunday, Kingsley Jones’ eldest daughter, Vikki Kingsley Jones Mowles, recounted how she did everything she could to make others laugh “until the end.”

He also took advantage of a strong fighting spirit in which he was determined to prove that the specialists who cared for him were wrong; including his reaction to a conversation between a doctor and his daughters when he was in a semi-conscious state shortly after the fall, when the two women were advised that they should not receive CPR if they suffered cardiac arrest.

“They talked to us about CPR and said, ‘We will tell you that we would probably advise you not to give CPR because of your condition,'” Vikki said.

“My sister and I would leave crying in the car. And the specialist who had just spoken with us called us on the phone and said, ‘You know you just went to see your dad and he was incoherent. I woke up and he told me that of course I’d want CPR. ‘

“He could hear everything around him. We couldn’t believe it. We came home, he called us and said, ‘F ****** trying to kill me, telling everyone I don’t want CPR.’

While caring for him at Middlemore Hospital, and later in a private hospital, he again used his keen sense of humor to bring some joy to family members who visited him or received phone calls from him.

“Until the end he was laughing and joking and trying to cheer us up with his jokes. He really believed he could beat this.”

Before his fall, Kingsley Jones had had mobility problems for some time due to hip problems.

Several years ago it was revealed that he needed double hip replacements. But she chose not to perform the procedures due to a heart condition diagnosed 10 years ago.

“They were scared to have an operation because if he had a hip replacement, he might not endure the operation,” Vikki said.

His mobility problems meant he was unable to carry Vikki down the hall when he married in February.

In April, Kingsley Jones was at his Auckland home and had a severe fall after trying to remove a pillow that was stuck in the back of a closet.

The fall knocked out his legs.

“He called me while his back was turned and said, ‘I fell down and I can’t feel my legs,'” Vikki said.

Verina called an ambulance and then they took him to Middlemore Hospital.

Due to the Covid-19 protocols during the level 1 lockdown, Kingsley Jones’ daughters were initially unable to visit him in hospital.

By the time Vikki could see her sick father by her bedside, he was not “coherent” due to the pain relievers used to help him feel as comfortable as possible.

“She was basically in a coma when I got to see him. I was devastated,” Vikki said. “They told me that was the end of life. It hurt and I was absolutely devastated.”

Later she visited him with messages from her grandchildren and “cried on his bed.”

“We thought it was the end.”

But Kingsley Jones, who also coached his beloved province of Manukau counties and helped coach Tonga on several overseas tours, defied the initial prognosis.

Her daughter said that “she kept getting better because she was fighting the best she could.”

“He really did not accept what happened, he kept saying that he would walk again. He did everything possible,” he added.

He was later transferred to a private hospital, before he was allowed to go home and be cared for by loved ones while he struggled to live.

Surrounded by loved ones, Phil Kingsley Jones shed one last tear and then took his last breath on Tuesday night.

“He kept saying to the end that he didn’t want to die,” Vikki said.

“My sister and I stayed the week with him, knowing that he was not good. When he breathed the last time, a tear fell from his eye, because he did not want to go.”

Two nights before his tragic death, Kingsley Jones got to see Counties Manukau in his showdown against Tasman on Saturday night.

At the end of the match, a Counties Manukau player gave the popular identity a “scream” on television, with Vikki saying that her father “raised his fist and smiled”.

“He was so strong and so determined,” Vikki said of the battle for her father’s health since the fall of April.

“It was horrible watching him try so hard to stay alive and be with his family. He didn’t want to leave us.”

Vikki worked as her father and Lomu’s personal assistant while Kingsley Jones handled the rugby sensation.

He recalled their close bond as “a team … we were a great family.”

“I know there were times when Jonah didn’t believe in himself, but Dad would sit with him and reassure him that he was the greatest person in the world and did everything he could.”

But ultimately, Vikki said that her family, including herself, Rhianon and her brother Kingsley Jones, who played test rugby for Wales and is now coach of Canada, would remember her father as someone who loved and supported them all, as well as their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. grandchildren.

“He is a legend. He loved his children,” he said.

“Dad was the one who always bought us all together, he also brought Jonah and his family together. He always reminded us to be humble and never forget where we were from.

“He is a man who makes you believe in yourself. He was very encouraging. He had the biggest heart.”