Micheal Quirke: Let’s help broken GAA stars ease their bodies into retirement

Reading Paul Keane’s article in this paper last week about the massive surge in hamstring injuries in the GAA and how the effects of all these injuries accumulate and last much longer than one week, a month or a season got me thinking.

I’m 34, a relatively young man, but in GAA playing years — a veritable dinosaur. When I wake in the morning now, my first thought is to not sit up.

I have to consciously roll onto my left side and ease myself up to a sitting position, then I must slowly swing my feet out of the bed and while leaning against the wardrobe, help myself up so the protruding disk in my lumbar spine won’t get annoyed and force my whole lower back into spasm for a minute or so. All wear and tear apparently.