Former Limerick hurler felt 'mentally destroyed' due to injuries at Johnson & Johnson factory

Mark Keane had gone to the aid of a colleague who had caught his hand in a machine and then got his own hand caught, court told

Mark Keane is alleging Johnson & Johnson was negligent and breached its duty towards him on September 10, 2018, while he was working as a technician making contact lenses. Picture: Collins Courts

A former Limerick senior hurler is in his second day of giving evidence at the High Court over "severe" and "emasculating" injuries he sustained when he went to the aid of a co-worker who caught his arm inside machinery at a Johnson & Johnson factory in Limerick.

Mark Keane told the High Court on Friday he felt “emasculated and mentally destroyed” because of the injury's effects, which began on "day one" and he was "not the man he was, nor the one he hoped to become".

An accomplished hurler, Mr Keane won three consecutive All-Irelands with Limerick under 21s between 2000 and 2002 and played senior from 2000 to 2006.

Mr Keane has taken his case against Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (Ireland) at its plant in the National Technological Park, Plassey, Co Limerick, over the incident that occurred in September 2018.

The 43-year-old is alleging Johnson & Johnson was negligent and breached its duty towards him on September 10, 2018, while he was working as a technician making contact lenses.

At the High Court on Friday, Mr Keane said he suffered a “huge deformity” to his hand during the incident, had not worked since, and still suffered pain in his right little finger that runs up his arm to his neck and back down.

Mr Keane has told the court he was on the factory floor when a colleague caught their hand in a machine on the line next to him and started "roaring" in pain. Mr Keane said he ran to help his colleague but because the man could not free his arm, his body formed a barrier between the plaintiff and a release lever which could have freed the arm.

The plaintiff has told Mr Justice Paul Coffey he tried to reach into the machine but got his own hand caught on some internal gridding or railing and the right hand of his little finger was bent backwards.

He then took the weight of the lid, top and plate of the machine and managed to hold it ajar for 30-60 seconds until co-workers arrived with a crowbar and freed the co-worker.

Mr Keane's lawyers submit this incident caused the plaintiff to suffer sustained, continuous and severe personal injury, as well as loss, damage, inconvenience and expense.

At the High Court on Friday, Mr Keane, a recovering alcoholic of many years, told his barrister, Andrew James Walker SC, he was now on social welfare due to the incident, could not afford counselling any more, and that he suffered with his mental health.

Mr Keane outlined to his barrister various surgeries, physiotherapies, consultations, medical treatments, scans and injections he has undergone in the intervening years but says he is still left in pain.

The plaintiff said the company had stopped paying him in December 2022 and he could not get another job with them or elsewhere, despite his efforts, and is now on invalidity pension.

Mr Keane said he was "demoralised, hurt, angry, made feel worthless... it's not just about me, it's about what they've done to my family".

"When I was an able-bodied person, I loved it, I loved working there, loved what they had given me and what I could provide. I could put my daughters through college, there was something in the fridge and I could pay my bills," he said.

Mr Keane said his current insecurity was "not nice, because I came from a place where I was in a hole in the ground, to better myself. I was very, very happy and secure in myself".

He said "in thirty seconds my whole life, my kids' and wife's life was turned upside down and then to be treated like a pariah because you saved a person is not nice".

Mr Keane is claiming he was “let down” by Johnson & Johnson, which failed to provide him with a safe place of work and a safe system of work and is seeking damages.

The plaintiff said he was a recovering alcoholic and while he did get some pain injections, he did not want to take strong oral medication and used paracetamol, as his priority was staying sober, "to protect myself", but he still struggled.

He said there were "horror stories" he knew of about people orally taking powerful medication and becoming addicted to it.

Mr Keane said he was "lucky" to be off alcohol for years but some days were a "massive struggle".

"If you add in the pain, I'm only two feet away from being back in a hole," he said.

The case continues.