Modern medicine has nothing a good old fashioned Irish cure.
If it’s not flat 7-Up for a flu, then it’s wrapping your hand in a vinegar bandage to get warts out of your hand or some such bizarre notion.
Thankfully Irish sports people don’t have to worry about rubbing the end of hawthorn bush from that boreen down the road to fix a hurt ankle, or repair the nerve damage after a tough session in the gym.
They have the best physios and medical staff to hand almost 24-7 which helps them in their bid to reach the top.
But in the GAA, some cures are heard to beat as Colm O’Neill found out when he was trying to recover from damaging his hamstring in 2009.
The Cork All-Ireland winner has come back from three operations to repair his shattered cruciate in the last ten years or so, but nothing could prepare him for the advice of a Cork sage after hurting his leg for the county’s U21s in their All-Ireland semi final six years ago.
The injury was so severe that it looked like the corner-forward would miss the championship decider.
However, the Ballyclough man explained to the Sunday Times today that someone has some very helpful advice that ensured he played in the game which would not be suitable for Grey’s Anatomy.
They insisted that instead of rubbing ice on his leg to aid the recovery process, a dip in a local stream would do wonders for his hamstring, and luckily there was a gush of water by the name of the Douglas river near his home that would suit perfectly.
I was sitting inside inside in the river the following day. I’d no shorts or nothing, just a pair of boxers and it was lashing rain down on top of me. Sitting in the river in Ballyclough thinking this had to be worth it.”
Ultimately it was, as O’Neill, thanks to some actual cryotherapy and intensive physio did play in the All-Ireland final, but the legacy is that he still has some niggling hamstring issues today.
It worked though as he scored five points in the decider to win his All-Ireland and would follow it up with a senior medal months later.
As he explains, the embarrassment of sitting in a river in his jocks was worth it.
“For the end prize, I was happy I took the risk.”
Now where’s that bottle of poitin for my groin injury.
