Friends rally for Pelow

At the headiest of times for Irish hockey, the agony and ecstasy of the national sides chasing their Olympic dreams was put harrowingly into perspective this week.

Chris Pelow, a member of the Corinthian club in Dublin and an Ireland representative at U16, U18 and A levels, now playing with Sydney University, underwent surgery in Australia on Wednesday to amputate one of his lower legs.

The operation was necessary to prevent the further spread of a synovial sarcoma, a very aggressive tumour which had developed in the 24-year-old’s foot and had been diagnosed just a week earlier.