New Zealand Rugby Star Angus Ta'avao Mourns the Heartbreaking Loss of His Young Son Amid Outpouring of Tributes

NEW ZEALAND rugby star Angus Ta’avao has revealed the tragic death of his young son Leo.

Leo, born in 2017, suffered from rare genetic condition partial-trisomy-13.

This disorder pertains to chromosome 13 and affects a child’s growth.

In a joint post, Ta’avao and wife Kristyn confirmed their son’s death.

Alongside several pictures of Leo, the post read: “We are heartbroken to share that our beautiful boy Leo has gained his angel wings.

“After a brief battle in PICU, Leo passed away surrounded by his loved ones.

“You have left a giant Leo sized hole in our hearts darling, we will miss you so so much. Til we meet again our baby boy.”

The 22-cap All Blacks star and his partner received plenty of supportive comments on their heartbreaking post.

His club, the Highlanders, wrote: “Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Kristyn and Georgie during this heartbreaking time. Rest in peace Leo.”

While several All Blacks team-mates also left messages of support.

Caleb Clarke wrote: “Sending prayers and love to you my brother ❤️ RIL (rest in love) Leo.”

While fly half Beauden Barrett added: “RIL Leo 😢💔❤️ Thinking of you all.”

Rockie Mo’unga commented: “Thinking of you and the family my uzo xx RIL Leo.”

Anton Lienert-Brown said: “Thinking of you & Kristyn my uso 💔 Fly high Leo 🙌🏽”

And Asafo Aumua added: “RIL Leo 😢❤️❤️ alofa aku x”.

Ta’avao played for the Highlanders as recently as last Friday as they got their season started with a 25-23 win over the Crusaders.

This was the prop’s debut for his new team, having joined from the Blues.