Eimear Ryan: There is something about injury that makes you feel estranged from yourself

It was only when I was walking off the pitch afterwards that I started to worry. My leg felt heavy — dead weight, like I was dragging it around the place.

Kevin Keane of St. Patrick's Westport is helped off the field on a stretcher after picking up an injury in the first half during the AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Intermediate club championship final in 2017. 'Anyone who has done a programme of rehab exercises knows that they are tedious,' writes Eimear Ryan

Wed, 07 Oct, 2020 - 18:00

Eimear Ryan

In July, a week before the first championship match of the season, I sustained a partial tear to the anterior fibres of the ACL on my right knee. We were in the midst of a tough Friday night training session: hot sun, hard ground, plenty of sprints. My knee felt sore when I decelerated out of the sprints and turned to jog back to the endline, but it was only when I was walking off the pitch afterwards that I started to worry.

My leg felt heavy — dead weight, like I was dragging it around the place.