In the days that follow a public figure passing away, we often find out some previously uncovered details about their lives.

James Small’s passing hit the headlines on Wednesday, and since then, tributes have poured in from around the world.

The man dubbed “a rebel with a cause” has been celebrated by former teammates, with fellow 1995 Rugby World Cup icons speaking of the Small you saw away from the public eye.

One popular Twitter account, Oom Rugby, shared a story about a private phone call between the winger and Nelson Mandela, which has since been picked up by Sport24.

In 2009, Small attempted suicide amidst a turbulent period in his life, having publicly admitted to physically assaulted former girlfriend, and mother of his child, Christina Storm.

The last thing he expected was a call from the former president. Here’s how Oom Rugby’s story goes:

Here is a story that James Small told me just after he had the suicide attempt in 2009.

He went to stay at his mother’s home to get away from the media and the glaring. Nobody could get hold of him, and most people did not even know where he was.

Then the phone rang, and his mother answered it.

The person on the other side of the line said it was the office of the President, and Mr Mandela wanted to talk to James. James didn’t believe this, so he told his mother to put the phone down.

Then the phone rang again, and the same person said that the President wanted to talk to James.

So James got on the line suspiciously, and then the President said to him, ‘Hi James, how are you?’

James could not believe that someone knew where he was so he still did not believe it was him, but after a minute he quickly realised that it was Mr Mandela on the phone.

The President wanted to know if James is okay and what was going on. James was going through a few things in his life, but a big issue he admitted was to be away from the game and the spotlight, and he was not sure of his identity.

The President listened to him, and then he said something along the line of – ‘I know what it feels like if you think people has forgotten about you. I went through it as well in my time in prison’.

In that moment James said he swallowed hard and got a instant perspective. How big is his problems really?

Mr Mandela said: ‘James you still have a big role to play and even a responsibility. You are from the class of ’95, and even if you think people has forgotten about you, they have not. You still have much to give and you are still a hero to many. That is your identity.

James said it was the moment that change his life. The fact that Mr Mandela bothered to have concern about him, and then somehow get his people to track him down… and then to deliver such a perspective… A guy who went through much much worse.

That is when James stood up again.

Small’s post-career problems have been well-documented, and he opened up about the real struggles our sporting heroes face when the limelight fades in an interview with John Robbie less than a year ago.

In that interview, he talks about another suicide attempt back in 2001, where he took cocaine and cut his wrists, waking up in a padded cell in Valkenberg psychiatric hospital.

The 2009 phone call between Small and Mandela has been confirmed by Zelda la Grange, Mandela’s former private secretary:

If a pep talk from Madiba isn’t going to get you out of a dark place, few things will.

[source:sport24]