SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock University rugby club player Tommy McClain scored a goal in the first half of his summer club team's game during the recent Steel City 7's Tournament in Wexford in late June.

What happened shortly afterward, nobody saw coming.

The goal came in the Shamrock Rugby Club's fourth game of the day. McClain was unable to finish it.

“I noticed he looked glassy-eyed at halftime,” SRU and Shamrocks coach Matt Heasley said. “I asked him if he was OK. He just looked at me, slurred his speech when he answered ... he began deteriorating rapidly.”

McClain lost feeling in his right side and became unable to speak. EMTs were called over and were still assessing his condition in the ambulance when the second half began.

“We finished the game and won the game,” team captain Anthony Houston said. “We had no clue what kind of condition Tommy was in.

“No one was exactly sure of what happened to him.”

McClain's girlfriend, Samantha Squatriglia, figured he was enduring the affects of a concussion after such a long day of rugby.

Instead, she and the team learned he had suffered a massive stroke due to a blood clot in his brain.

“I was at the games earlier in the day, but wasn't there when Tommy took ill,” Squatriglia said. “Someone texted me about it and I didn't know what to think. A bad concussion, maybe.

“Then I found out what actually happened. It was jaw-dropping. It was terrible.”

And it got worse.

McClain was transported to UPMC Mercy “because they specialize in head trauma,” Heasley said.

McClain suffered a brain bleed in the middle of the night and emergency surgery was required.

“It was touch and go there for a while,” Heasley admitted. “But they were able to fix that.”

Now McClain is on the mend. He was recently moved to a rehabilitation facility, where he will stay for at least a month. His speech is improving and he is regaining feeling in his right side.

The recovery figures to be lengthy, but close to a full one is expected.

“The doctors can't believe how far he's come so quickly,” Squatriglia said.

McClain spent his 21st birthday in the intensive care unit, “where they let him have a sip of beer,” Heasley said.

Houston admitted that what happened to McClain “made all of us stop and think about how quickly things can turn.”

Squatriglia set up a gofundme.com page to help the family with medical expenses. Her original goal was to raise $10,000.

“Within two hours after it was posted, it had raised $15,000,” Squatriglia said. “Obviously, I changed that goal. Now we're hoping to raise $75,000.”

They're well on their way.

The gofundme.com page had raised more than $48,000 as of Friday afternoon. Rugby programs from across the country have contributed.

“There's just a different bond with this game,” Houston said. “We all share a love for it. When rugby players see that something like this happened at a game, everybody rallies around that person.”

A link to the gofundme.com page, “Tommy Strong,” can be found on the Shamrock Rugby Club Facebook page.

Squatriglia has her own description of how fast and furious donations have been coming in.

“It is completely insane,” she said. “Rugby programs from every state have responded.”

“It's a small fraternity of sport,” Heasley said. “A very caring fraternity.”