Durban - Former Natal rugby player Graham Downes is in a critical condition in a San Diego hospital following a brawl at his home in the city early on Friday.
It was reported by the newspaper UT San Diego on Sunday that the 56-year-old suffered “major head and facial injuries” at the hands of a 31-year-old employee, Higinio Salgado. Downes was hosting a party at the time. Downes was a Durban High School old boy and graduate of the University of Natal’s school of architecture.
He represented the province at rugby in the 1980s. He later moved to the US where he played for the Eagles, the national side.
He founded Graham Downes Architecture in San Diego in 1994. The firm has enjoyed great success and now has offices in Las Vegas and Phoenix. On Sunday night, Downes’s nephew, Michael, said his father, Simon, was enroute to San Diego to be with his brother.
“We are waiting for contact from the family who will update us on Graham’s condition.”
His attacker has been arrested. According to the newspaper, Downes’s firm was known for its work on high-profile hotels and restaurant projects.
“His firm recently completed a major overhaul of the decades-old Tom Ham’s Lighthouse on Harbour Island and, before that, the Bali Hai on Shelter Island,” the newspaper said.
It quoted San Diego restaurateur David Cohn, who has been working with Downes’s firm to design a $10 million (about R92m) restaurant and event centre, saying: “He really is a renaissance man.” - Mercury