‘God dealt you this hand of cards and you just gotta play it the way you play it’

REBEL WITH A CAUSE: Rebel Wheelers talisman Derek Hegarty celebrates being announced MVP after the Hula Hoops IWA Wheelchair Basketball Cup final win over Killester WBC at the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght last January. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

It's a story Derek Hegarty hasn’t told in quite a while.

Those who know, know. Those who don’t tend not to pry.

Cork city native Hegarty was recently crowned Irish wheelchair basketball men’s player of the year for the yet to be completed 2019/20 season.

It is the second successive year he has won the award.

Back-to-back individual honours stem from back-to-back National Cup final wins with Cork outfit Rebel Wheelers, the first of those cup victories contributing to a clean sweep of domestic titles last season.

Hegarty turned in an MVP display during their successful retention of the National Cup back in January. His 25-point haul accounted for almost half his team’s final tally. Mind you, that’s still 23 points shy of the 48 he sunk during one particular league fixture last year. Add in the European championships at which he represented Ireland and the conclusion that he has enjoyed a fine few years on the court is comfortably arrived at.

As the 36-year old says himself, you may as well work with what you have. No point holding a grudge at the hand you were dealt.

It is 25 years since the incident whch led to Hegarty ending up in a wheelchair.

“You would probably be the first to ask me to go into detail. And I have no problem with that.”

He was only 11 when he and others of a similar age wandered into a construction site outside of working hours.

“It happened not far from where I live up on Hollyhill,” he begins.

“We were just kids. There was nothing blocked off, they were building houses. A few lads were on tractors getting spins, and this and that. A dumper truck kinda thing reversed back, I fell. I hit one of the foundation bars. The back of my ankle must have hit it and I fell back, and I was knocked unconscious. The tractor just rolled over me then.

“I was told I died and they had to revive me. I was in theatre for 14 hours, and following that, I was in intensive care for a couple of weeks to see if I would survive.”

In total, he spent over three months in CUH.

From there, he was transferred to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire.

More so than anything else, he recalls those nine months in south Dublin as being profoundly lonely.

“During the week, you had a lot to do. You were kept busy with rehab. But on weekends, there was nothing. I had to stay up there, and I was up there on my own a lot of the time. That was back in 1995/96. Home was so far away. Travel would have been so different. Dual carriageways weren’t as common. My family would come up, but they’d have to stay in a B&B as it wasn’t worth coming up and down in one day.”

During the many, many physiotherapy sessions in the months after the accident, the 11-year old would use a pair of crutches when carrying out whatever task had been set for him.

That he had suffered an incomplete spinal cord injury meant he was able to get back on his feet— aided, of course. But it would prove temporary. Attempting to get around on crutches involved too much strain. In the end, he was content to settle into a wheelchair.

“I do have feeling in my legs. I can move them a small bit. But I was doing physio for months and years and didn’t feel like I was progressing or that I was ever going to walk on my own.

“So I gave the crutches the boot. I have been in a chair ever since.”

Prior to the accident, Hegarty was into boxing. He played basketball, soccer, hurling, and football too. He lined out for his primary school, Scoil Padre Pio, Churchfield, in the Sciath na Scol finals at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

To then be no longer able to knock about a football with friends must have been an incredibly difficult adjustment for one so young. And while of course there were difficult days, Hegarty, by and large, didn’t see the point in fighting his new reality.

“I had mixed emotions. I could have been very angry about it, upset about it, depressed, every kind of emotion really. But I got on with it.

“I had good friends and family around me. My neighbours were very good. I had a lot of support. At school, they put in a ramp. They were excellent.

“I could have died that day and there could have been no story about it. But thank God I lived to tell the tale. And it doesn’t bother me talking about it now. I am well over it. It was just a freak accident. It could have been anyone.”

As he progressed into his teens and began to explore what outlets there were for wheelchair users, he quickly learned that sport could still be part of his existence.

He took up wheelchair basketball and para athletics. But there being no wheelchair basketball team in Cork at the time meant many hours trekking to and from Dublin.

Juggling both became a challenge and so he decided to focus solely on one. He opted for athletics.

He threw the discus, javelin, and shot put. He dabbled in the sprints. He enjoyed much success. But then he gave it all up in his early 20s.

“We were travelling up and down the country non-stop. I wanted a break. But I should have stuck with it. That is probably one of my regrets. I should have stuck with it and not stopped at all.”

Around 11 years ago, Hegarty returned to the court. He has since lined out for a couple of different clubs, ending up at Rebel Wheelers when they amalgamated with Fr Matthew’s two seasons ago.

Under the watchful eye of coach Con Coughlan, they train twice a week at Ballyphehane community centre. Last season’s treble (League, National Cup, and Paddy Byrne Cup) was a rare feat and yet they were on course for a second successive treble when Covid-19 intervened.

Founded and run by parents, Hegarty can’t sing loudly enough the praises of the multi-sports club. He picks out Mick McCarthy as the perfect example of all that is good and wholesome about the Wheelers. Mick, whose son Dylan is an integral part of the senior side, drives the team bus to wherever they need to get to on match-days.

“Mick does it without fail. It is that kind of volunteer effort that we really appreciate. We are a growing franchise and, hopefully, it goes on for years and years after we finish up playing.”

Last year, Hegarty travelled to Croke Park to collect his player of the year award. This year’s ceremony, pencilled in for May 30, is unlikely to go ahead as scheduled.

He’ll get his hands on the award at some stage, further tangible evidence that he is not defined by the curveball fired in his direction all those years ago.

“One door closed, one door opened. You had to decide which road you wanted to go down. Are you going to have ups and downs along the way, of course, you are. Life ain’t perfect for anyone. I had ups and downs. I dealt with it in my own way.

“You can’t dwell on the past and what you can’t get back. You can’t let it run through your mind all the time, it’ll only eat you up.

“God dealt you this hand of cards and you just gotta play it the way you play it, and see what comes next. You just got to work with what you have, you just gotta keep going.”