Tyrone footballer Cormac McAnallen died of a viral infection of his heart, a secondary post mortem examination established today.
Blood tests showed that the 24-year-old Tyrone captain died of a condition affecting about one in 100,000 people.
As his body was taken to his family home in Eglish, seven miles from Dungannon, his heartbroken mother Bridget described how they fought desperately to save his life.
Mrs McAnallen, speaking for the first time about the tragedy, she said she attempted artificial respiration on her son.
She added: "When I went into Cormac's bedroom, I knew there was something wrong. I looked for signs of life. I started to feel for a pulse but I couldn't feel it straight away."
She revealed that an ambulance crew which arrived at the house worked for an hour to resuscitate her son but nothing could be done.
Mrs McAnallen had been alerted by Cormac's distraught older brother Donal early yesterday morning.
As the family waited for the ambulance to arrive, she rang a family friend, Dr Anjun Ghosh, for help.
"I asked him how to do artificial respiration. We had already started to do it at that stage but none of us could be sure we were doing it perfectly," she said.
Both Dr Ghosh and the ambulance crew attempted to resuscitate Mr McAnallen but without success.
His mother added: "They gave him everything they could give him and they did everything possible."
A crowd of around 300 people, including members of Mr McAnallen's home club St Patrick's, stood silently in Eglish as his hearse, followed by more than 50 cars, wound its way through the village towards the family home.
The club's former chairman Mr Canice Murtagh said the people of the area were devastated by his death.
He said: "Football has gone out of the window. He was more than a hero. I don't think anybody could describe what Cormac McAnallen meant to this community."
As hundreds of people flocked to the farmhouse to pay their respects, Mrs McAnallen spoke of the shock at her beloved son's death.
"I probably feel more emotional today than I did yesterday. It just takes time to sink in."
The family have been touched by the messages of sympathy by people from all walks of life.
They included President Mary McAleese who phoned the family yesterday.
"She was just full of help, sympathy and understanding. She praised Cormac's achievements," added Mrs McAnallen.
Mrs McAnallen said she was struck by how much her son's death had affected everyone in the community.
"I'm quite amazed. I knew Cormac had a very high profile before that and did seem to be universally loved among GAA people.
"But I didn't realise how far and wide his reputation has spread."
Despite his successes on the Gaelic field, which included last year's victory in the Sam Maguire Cup, she said Cormac had remained the same modest young man he had ever been.
"He was a lovely child. From the very beginning he had a very easygoing manner except coming up to matches when he could be very tense."
She added: "He did tend to bite his nails, he would have had the nails chewed off himself but he stopped biting them for Lent."
The removal and funeral will both take place on Friday.
