Tragic Scot’s girlfriend speaks of his death for the first time

The girlfriend of a Scots footballer who died suddenly in the US has spoken of her grief for the first time.

Megan Mercer’s 22-year-old partner Peter McAvoy collapsed in his apartment in New York State in April. A post-mortem examination found viral myocarditis inflammation of the heart muscle was to blame.

Now American Megan has revealed her torment at not being there in his final hours. She told The Sunday Post how she had been due to fly to Scotland for the trip of a lifetime with her college sweetheart, but instead travelled to attend his funeral.

Megan, 21, a student, said: “I’d been on a break with my family when it happened. We’d been texting and he wished me good luck before I went for a job interview at a restaurant that evening. I messaged him to let him know I got the job and I’d booked some days off for our trip to Scotland, but I didn’t hear back from him.

“We were going to buy my ticket the week he died. I have his belongings with me right now. Some days it helps to have them close by, and then there’s other days when I can’t even look at them. I will miss Peter forever.”

Peter, of Dundee, had moved to the US, where he was completing a football scholarship at New York State’s Herkimer College. He was America’s reigning Junior College Player of the Year.

His coach and team mates are adamant he showed no signs of illness. The day before he collapsed, Peter played a match, ate a Subway and went home afterwards.

Megan added: “One of his roommates texted me to ask if I’d heard from Peter, and told me people were saying that he had been carried from the college on a stretcher. I called the hospital but they wouldn’t give me any information because I was not the next of kin.

“My family and I immediately got in the car. It was only 45 minutes to the college but it was the longest drive of my life. I just prayed he was in a coma or something like that. I was just praying and saying please don’t let him be gone yet.”

Sadly, Peter had suffered a heart attack brought on by viral myocarditis, which experts are still trying to understand.

Megan added: “I saw the boys who were with him when he died, they were distraught. He had just been at his apartment with his friends and they said he just collapsed and had been gasping for air and they didn’t know what to do.”

Megan has admitted the loss of Peter has been very difficult but the support of his friends and family helped her cope.

She said: “Peter was the most amazing person. Everyone loved him, not just his family and friends, but anyone who came into contact with him. When I think about our time together it makes me happy, but of course it’s been very difficult to come to terms with.

“He made my mum very nervous because she thought I was just going to run off to Scotland with him for the rest of my life.”

Celebrities and football stars, including Lorraine Kelly, Henrik Larsson and Stiliyan Petrov, have all lined up to back a campaign to raise money in memory of former Arbroath FC and Tayport FC defender Peter.

Screening campaign would honour Peter

Peter’s family are determined to ensure everything possible is done to protect other athletes from the condition that claimed his life. His father, also Peter, would like to see screening introduced in an effort catch the virus before it strikes.

The senior Perth and Kinross council official said: “Although we know what killed Peter, there are still a number of unanswered questions. Why did the virus affect him and why did it happen so quickly?

“We would like to campaign for screening opportunities to be set up for young people, especially young athletes. Peter was a healthy young man, and the coroner in the US said that when he comes across cases like this it’s amongst athletic people, in particular basketball players.”

Peter, who still lives in Dundee, says the support the family have received from all around the world has helped them immensely.

He added: “He was a beautiful big guy and a gentle giant. It’s been remarkable how similar the memories and tributes paid to him have been on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Peter will be hugely missed. What gets to me is all the potential he had being taken from us all in a moment.”