O’Connell throws weight behind cardiac screening

IRELAND and Munster rugby star Paul O’Connell is putting his formidable weight behind a campaign to encourage sports clubs tackle the issue of sudden adult death.

Fri, 25 Jul, 2008 - 01:00

The giant forward has also agreed to help turn a team of young gaelic players, also determined to give the problem of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) the boot, into champions.

Munterconnaught, a junior gaelic football club from Co Cavan, is aiming to win the junior football championship this summer after a 14-year gap.

And Paul believes the team, also known as the Munchies, can rise to the challenge set by Powerade and take the title.

“They seem to have what it takes — they are good guys. If they keep up their training and have a bit a luck, hopefully they will do it,” he said.

SADS hit the headlines in recent years with the tragic deaths of sports stars such as Tyrone footballer Cormac McAnallen and Armagh rugby player John McCall.

Powerade, through its Never Give Up campaign is helping the Mater Foundation and the Cormac Trust to raise awareness of the syndrome by setting a challenge for the team.

All 29 members of Munterconnaught agreed to fill out a Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) screening questionnaire to help raise the profile of the issue.

Five players were recommended to undergo medical screening at the Family Heart Screening Clinic in Heart House in Dublin run by the Mater Foundation.

The players underwent electrocardiogram and eco-cardiogram testing but, thankfully, all results were normal.

Munterconnaught club chairman Val Yore said they wanted every club in every sport to get their members to fill out a screening questionnaire because it might just save someone’s life.

“From the death of Cormac McAnallen we know that this kind of tragedy not only affects families but communities and even whole counties too.”

Powerade has given the club an automated external defibrillator, a portable device that can be used by trained club members.

* The CRY screening questionnaire can be found at www.nevergiveup.ie.