by Adam Moynihan

When local Gaelic footballer Seán O’Leary was involved in a serious road traffic accident in Limerick in July, a blood transfusion saved his life.

The popular Kilcummin and Kerry player was travelling home from Thurles with his girlfriend, Emma, when their car collided with an oncoming vehicle near Abbeyfeale. Seán broke both his legs in the crash and, in the days and weeks that followed, he required seven units of blood. Those transfusions were of critical importance to the 21-year-old and now, thankfully, he is on the path to recovery.

Next week, to raise awareness around the importance of giving blood, Seán’s Kilcummin teammates will be donating their own blood at a clinic in Killarney. There is a shortage of blood in Ireland; if every senior GAA team followed Kilcummin’s lead, that shortage would surely be no more.

Speaking to the Killarney Advertiser, Seán said that the accident is “not something you can mentally prepare yourself for”, but he thanked everyone in the community for their support and confirmed that he and Emma are recuperating well. He also outlined how the transfusion he received saved his life.

“The night of the accident I had lost all feeling in my legs,” he recalled. “Once I saw what had happened, I realised I had an open wound fracture so there was a lot of blood. But I was very lucky: there’s a femoral artery that runs through your femur and if that’s ruptured you will bleed out within 15 minutes. I was very lucky that that didn’t get ruptured.

“I was rushed to hospital as soon as they got me out of the car. The blood transfusion I got that day was key to me surviving. Over the next few weeks, I had to get seven units of blood in total. That set me on my way to recovery. If the blood wasn’t available, I would have been in a seriously bad way.”

SHORTAGE

Unfortunately, blood is in relatively short supply in Ireland, with some being imported from the UK. Only 3% of the eligible Irish population give blood, despite that fact that 1 in 4 Irish people will need a blood transfusion at some point in their life.

With Seán’s experience and those figures in mind, Kilcummin players Brendan Kealy and Kevin Gorman, along with Seán himself, came together to see if they could help raise awareness by organising a group donation by the club’s senior team. In total, 22 members of the panel and management team have signed up for Killarney’s next Blood Donation Clinic, which takes place in the Dromhall Hotel from October 4-7. Another clinic will take place on October 11-12. Those interested in donating are encouraged to visit giveblood.ie for more information and to find out if you are eligible.

“It would be a great initiative if GAA clubs could get the message out to members about donating blood,” Seán added. “There will be other clubs around Kerry with members who will need a blood transfusion.

“You could be the difference between saving someone’s life or not.”