O’Carroll found help at hand after bang to head
The All Star-nominated full-back is an ambassador for Acquired Brain Injury Ireland (ABII) and contacted the organisation immediately after September’s punishing final win over Mayo. He remained on the field for the last 16 minutes of the game despite being ‘woozy’ from concussion and suffering from impaired judgement.
ABII chief executive Barbara O’Connell issued a hard-hitting statement after the final pointing out that O’Carroll should have been substituted.
At the time, Dublin had used up their full allocation of subs and the Kilmacud Crokes player remained on the pitch, leaving him apparently at risk of a potentially fatal second concussion.
Speaking at yesterday’s launch of a December 13 conference on the issue at the Aviva Stadium, O’Connell said O’Carroll did take steps after the game to address his condition.
“He rang us and said, ‘what do I do now to manage this?’,” revealed O’Connell. “We walked him through a seven-day return to play where he eventually went back to live activity.”
Asked about the player’s recollection of events which saw Dublin eventually prevail by a single point, she said O’Carroll hadn’t any. “No, he said no [memory of it],” continued O’Connell. “I mean obviously he knows he got a concussion, that he was a bit woozy.
“He’ll say he felt fine, at the time, and they’ll say they feel fine but when you actually observe them externally, they’re not fine. The decision shouldn’t have been his, nor should it be any player’s.”
O’Connell claimed the current medical procedure regarding concussed players is to assess them before asking if they’re fit to continue, something she said is meaningless if the player is actually dazed. She also suggested team doctors may be under pressure from management not to order the replacement of a concussed player.
“I think the lack of guidelines around it doesn’t support doctors,” she added.
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