Artificial heart patient ready to cheer on Cork from hospital bed

BEING tethered to an artificial heart is not going to stop 50-year-old Jerry O’Leary from cheering as loud as he can from his hospital bed for a double Cork thriller in Croke Park this weekend.

For 165 days now, the massive machine has been Jerry’s constant companion as he waits patiently in Dublin’s Mater Hospital for a real one.

Two weeks ago a heart became available for the former welder from Kanturk, Co Cork, but when all the tests were done it was found to be unsuitable.