The reaction to Tom Parsons’ injury told a story in itself.
The well-wishes and the messages of support flooded in for the Mayo midfielder from all corners of the GAA world from Sunday evening and into this week.
The GAA world stood as one, shaken up by the graphic nature of the blow he suffered and struck with pity and regret that one of the games’ most pronounced gentlemen would be condemned with its worst fate.
Former Meath footballer Cian Ward summed it up best on Monday’s GAA Hour Show.
“The thing about it is, you’d never wish an injury on anyone, this sounds terrible, but, Tom Parsons conducts himself on the pitch in such an honest way as well. He never gets involved in any stuff that you’d say, ‘he’s a bit of an eejit that lad.’
“When it happens to a guy like him, there’s almost an extra sense like, ‘Isn’t that terrible,’ because it’s such an unfortunate injury. He comes across as a really decent fella, a very honest and committed guy for Mayo. He never, ever lets them down.”
Colm Parkinson echoed Ward’s sentiments.
“It was very nasty. It was a complete accident. It was terrible luck for Tom Parsons. He’s an absolute gent, a brilliant, brilliant player. It’s very, very sad…My heart goes out to him.”
Hear, hear.
But you don’t know Tom Parsons if you don’t think he’ll get back up from this knock and try his damnedest to get back to where he was. On Tuesday morning, the 30-year-old, bowled over by the good-will he has received over the last few days, posted a message of thanks ‘at a rough time.’
True to style, he’s already thinking of the comeback.
“Teammates, Opponents, Supporters, and all you GAA people.. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all the Messages of support and Best Wishes at a rough time. “My Comeback will be Stronger than my Setback”
Teammates, Opponents, Supporters, and all you GAA people.. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all the Messages of support and Best Wishes at a rough time. "My Comeback will be Stronger than my Setback" 🙏
— Tom Parsons (@TomParsons_8) May 15, 2018
