Kingdom star Moran set to go under the knife for second time

Kerry footballer David Moran will undergo his second cruciate knee ligament operation in less than 12 months tomorrow.

But the 23-year-old Tralee man can’t wait to leave the Santry Sports Surgery Clinic to start plotting his comeback, having pencilled in next year to return to the football field.

Moran will check into the Dublin clinic at 8.30am tomorrow morning and will go under the knife later that day, following the severed cruciate knee ligament injury he suffered while training with his club Kerins O’Rahillys last month, just days after he was given the all-clear following his first cruciate knee injury.

“Every day after Saturday is a day closer to playing football again,” he said. “Before the operation there is no progress. But once it’s over you can make out a calendar to keep yourself sane, tick off the boxes as you go along.

“You’re pretty much moving straightaway but I will be on crutches for a few weeks. It’s about getting the swelling down, getting movement and flexibility into my knee, try to bend my knee fully and extend it fully. It’s tough work because it’s very painful.

“It’s pretty much the same as the first time, except that the surgeon [Ray Moran] will take it from my hamstring as opposed to taking it from my knee. It’s the same thing, I severed the cruciate again.”

Moran, who originally injured his left knee in am Allianz Football League match away to Monaghan last April, tried to train with Kerry after he hurt his knee with O’Rahillys, only to collapse early in the session before receiving the heartbreaking news the following Saturday that he had suffered a second cruciate knee injury.

“When I went in, Ray [Moran] had a look at my knee and stuff, and he said he was worried. I was bracing myself a bit for the news. But I wasn’t going to be gutted until I found out for sure what was after happening. It was tough to hear but I just have to get on with it,” Moran said.

“I can get around fine. It’s sore. But I can manage. I’m not doing anything too hectic at the moment to test it out. Straight lines I can walk fine. But I couldn’t play a game of indoor soccer or tennis.”

The son of Kerry football legend Ogie Moran is currently studying for his masters in financial services at UL.