Uncle of Ryan Satterthwaite calls for cancellation of 'Run It' events

The uncle of the teenager that died while playing a version of the game 'Run It Straight' is calling for the 'Run It' events to be cancelled.

Ryan Satterthwaite, 19, died after suffering a catastrophic head injury while playing a version of the game that's trending on social media.

Ryan's uncle Pete Satterthwaite told Morning Report he had been told it was a "very freak accident".

He said when he saw Run It in the news, he thought it was a "stupid idea and nothing good is going to come of it, and someone is going to get seriously hurt."

But Pete said he didn't think it was going to be his nephew.

"These young people are influenced by social media and what they see, and in all honesty if I was his age, I would have probably been doing the same thing,"

He said something needed to change, and called on those with influence to get young people thinking about their actions.

"Us saying something on social media is not going to make these young people change their minds or think about their actions or anything like that.

"But if we have some social media influencers, like some All Blacks, some rugby league players, coaches, that sort of thing, that these people idolise and look up too, maybe that is going to prevent another accident."

He said Ryan's family wanted the message to get out there that the game 'Run It Straight' was not safe.

"In that game... the ultimate aim is to hurt your opponent, run over the top of him, you know, your leading with your shoulder, leading with your head, what did the organisers think was going to happen.

"Regardless of whether they have medical staff on sight and everybody has a test, it's still the most stupid thing i've ever seen."

Tributes and support for Ryan and his family flooded the hospital.

"I don't think i've had that many friends in my entire life, let alone the number of friends that were up at the hospital trying to support him and his family," Pete said.

"That was a testament to the young man he was."

Pete said Ryan's friends were "not good".

"Everyone's sort of feeling it, not just the family but his all his extended friends, his local company... but there's nothing you can do and there is nothing you can say," he said.

Police said it was an unspectacular tackle that led to the tragedy.

Manawatū area commander inspector Ross Grantham said Ryan's head didn't collide with his friend's and didn't hit anything hard during the tackle.

"It's the movement that has caused this injury.

"This is one of the most important things for our young people, it is that simple, it is that easy to create an injury which can be fatal."

Sports and Recreation Minister Mark Mitchell is seeking advice on what could be done about the social media influenced collision game.

He said he had asked Sport NZ for advice to see if there was anything that could be done at a government level.

Mitchell is still waiting to hear back, but it would likely require a response from multiple agencies.

An expert in sports science and injury prevention at AUT said the Run It craze was reckless and she also wanted it banned.

Professor Patria Hume told Morning Report the game was not something New Zealand should be proud of.

She said people needed to understand the high risks.

"The forces are five times more than a typical rugby tackle. You have two people who are running towards each other and trying to impact each other with full force, but on a rugby field you have the ability to evade that force."

She compared the force risks to the whiplash in a crash.

"With forces it doesn't have to [have head contact], if you think about whip lash in a car accident... you are secured by your seatbelt but your head whips forward, your brain moves inside your skull which causes damage to the brain."

Education about the risks was important for people to decide 'Run It' was not an activity they should do, Hume added.

The Rector of Ryan Satterthwaite's former school Palmerston North Boys High School, David Bovey, told Morning Report the death was a tragedy, and had concerns about the 'games'.

"Teenage boys are terrible at thinking about consequences and they never think anything is going to happen to them and so, you know, something like this I think really hit home in terms of the message we are trying to give the boys - 'this is something I shouldn't be doing'."

Bovey supported the idea of people in positions of influence to raise awareness of the risks.

Last night an Auckland stadium announced safety concerns meant the end to any more 'Run It Straight' events.

Australian-based Runit Championship League ran trials last week at West Auckland's Trusts Arena with $200,000 advertised for the winner of the final.

Trusts Arena interim chief executive Lynette Adams said the decision to cancel followed overwhelming concern about the event's high-risk.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.