A product of the Nottingham Academy, Mitchell impressed for the senior side in Nottingham's run to the quarter finals of the British and Irish Cup last season. These performances aligned to his huge potential saw him sign a new contract with the club in May this year.
The 21 year old lock was expected to make a significant contribution to the first team squad this season having served his apprenticeship out on loan with Birmingham Solihull and Leicester Lions.
Chief Executive of Nottingham Rugby, Simon Beatham, said, "This has come as a huge shock to all of us at Nottingham Rugby. Mitchell was an exceptional talent and a hugely popular member of the squad so his loss has been felt profoundly.
"Whenever an Academy player makes the step up to the first team squad it fills you with pride and Mitchell was ready to take his chance in the forthcoming season. He was a lovely guy and our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this very difficult time."
Todd, who qualified for Scotland through his Edinburgh born father, represented the Scottish Exiles at under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-20 levels. His progress was being monitored by the national squad.
Rob Brierley, Scottish Rugby's Performance Development Manager for Exiles, said: "Mitch was a quiet, sensitive bloke with a real steely determination never more evident than on the rugby pitch. He was a real athlete, somebody who was late to the game and was developing all the time."
In 2011, Todd played in ten games for Scotland under-20, starting in eight of them, including all of Scotland's matches in that year's IRB Junior World Championship.
Peter Wright, his forwards' coach at that time, said: "He was a popular member of the squad and a guy I really enjoyed coaching. He came up from Nottingham and put in a lot of hard work."
As a result of this news Nottingham Rugby have cancelled their match against Loughborough Students that was scheduled for Saturday.
Beatham continued, "The whole club has been affected by this news, so it certainly wouldn't have been appropriate to play on Saturday. It's a really difficult time for us all but I'm sure the boys will be determined to put in a good showing against Leicester Tigers next week."
source: nottinghamrugby.co.uk
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