‘I never dealt’ with Coach Dag’s death until this year- Kyron A. McMaster
Mr Samuels died at age 55 due to injuries suffered at his home in Huntums Ghut during Hurricane Irma on September 6, 2017.
The decision to ‘come home’ to the VI
Mr McMaster revealed his mental health struggles during an interview on Ready Set Go with former Olympic and World Champion Justin Gatlin, and Rodney Green, a former Professional track and field athlete for the Bahamas. The show was broadcast on YouTube on December 7, 2023, and is also available on Apple Podcasts.
The two-times Diamond League Champion McMaster said when he was in Zagreb, Croatia, where he ran his final race of the season, Mr Samuels wanted him to do a next race, “and had we done that next race we would not have been in the islands for the hurricane.”
McMaster had finished second in the Men's 400m hurdles final at the IAAF World Challenge in Zagreb on August 29, 2017.
The 2017 World Leader and Diamond League Trophy winner had days before, on August 24, 2017, beaten a field that included World Champion Karsten Warholm of Norway at the Diamond League Meet in Zurich, Switzerland.
McMaster disclosed that he told his coach he was tired after a long season, and he just wanted to go home to “chill”. He said it was when he and his coach returned to the Virgin Islands that they learned there was a big hurricane on its way.
The death of Coach Dag
The star athlete revealed that prior to the hurricane hitting, he and his father, along with friends, were going around helping people to board up their homes. He said he even offered to help Mr Samuels board up his home but was told by his coach that it was fine as he had done some sealing up with duct tape.
Mr McMaster said the story he heard was that Mr Samuels was cut by glass when his windows broke in the hurricane.
“He was upstairs and when the glass broke, it shattered all over him, so he passed out.”
McMaster said he was also told that the powerful winds threw the already injured Samuels out of the house.
“One of the coaches, Omar Jones, lived across the street, so he saw it happen. He went outside and picked him up in the hurricane, put him in the back of the truck to try to carry him to the hospital but a tree came down and stopped him from going.”
McMaster said, sadly, coach Samuels died in the truck.
‘I never dealt with’ Dag’s death
Asked by Gatlin how the death of his coach affected him, McMaster revealed that he carried the burden of his coach’s death for years.
“You know I never dealt with it. I never dealt with it on a personal level. I just brushed it aside and kept pushing,” Mr McMaster related.
“That’s the Caribbean thing, we do that a lot…” Mr Green interjected.
McMaster added: “I think it played with me in ways that I never understood. I dealt with it this year,” adding that he needed to get that burden off his shoulder.
Gatlin said he empathised with McMaster as for a long time he too had harboured negative energy like that.
“It was effective for me like when it was time to race. I used that same energy to make good races, win races, dominate, but then it started to bleed into my real regular life.”
McMaster agreed it was a similar situation for him.
Green said it happened to him a couple of times as well, but he found relief through therapy.
McMaster would go on to win gold in the 400m hurdles at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia on April 12, 2018, and had dedicated the win to his late coach Mr Xavier Samuels aka ‘Dag’.
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10 Responses to “‘I never dealt’ with Coach Dag’s death until this year- Kyron A. McMaster”
Ayo need stop with this bs comparing Kyron to D moi if anything he need to remind you of Kyron cause Kyron been on the world stage from since 2017 d moi just coming on the stage so give the man the recognition he deserves from bringing up D moi name each chance ayo get just because he in the NBA