‘Would I commit myself to another 50/50? I don’t know’

Fine-tuning his kick-outs should have been Declan Murphy’s chief focus this week. Instead, his days are spent bound to the couch, hopping from one Netflix series to the next.

From minding the house for the Barrs footballers, he can now hardly mind himself.

Independence may have been regained when it comes to showering, but that’s one of the few basics of everyday life where Murphy is not dependent on his girlfriend Gillian or whatever family member has dropped by to check on him.

Something so simple as carrying a cup of tea from the kitchen counter to the table is still beyond him.

As long as the crutches remain, so too does his total reliance on others to get him through the day.

This has been Declan Murphy’s story since Saturday, September 22. The Cork SFC quarter-final between St Finbarr’s and Douglas was three-quarters of an hour old when Murphy’s season ground to a shattering halt.

Having been alive to Douglas’ David Hanrahan ghosting in behind the cover, Murphy rushed off his goal-line at Páirc Uí Rinn when possession broke inside. Arriving to the ball at precisely the same moment, Hanrahan’s boot collided with the goalkeeper’s shin.

St Finbarr’s corner-back Sam Ryan heard the crack and immediately gestured to the sideline. Fellow defender Ross O’Dwyer took a little more convincing.

“I tried to get up, but wasn’t able,” Murphy recalls.

When I looked down at my right leg, my foot was faced right and my knee was faced left. A clean break of both the tibia and fibula.

There was, however, no pain. No writhing, no wincing. Just panic.

“The leg was numb. Honestly, there was no pain. I said to Ross O’Dwyer, my leg is broken. He replied that I wouldn’t be able to speak if my leg is broken such would be the excruciating pain I’d be in. He looked down, then, and saw it.

“I had never broken a bone in my life so I started to really panic. I actually spent so much time on the ground with my hands covering my face that my three-year-old daughter Fiadh would tell people afterwards that I had a nose injury.”

Also in the stand was Barrs follower Dr Philip Hodnett. Making his way onto the pitch to offer assistance, Hodnett told referee John Ryan the goalkeeper was not being put onto any stretcher until a brace was sourced for his right leg.

“When I went up to hospital, they said I was very lucky they didn’t put me straight onto a stretcher. Too much movement of the leg could have resulted in nerve damage. I was blessed Philip was there.”

As he waited in the Páirc Uí Rinn medical room for an ambulance, the 32-year-old regularly sent teammate Paul Harte out to check the scoreboard. The latter was also instructed to phone Declan’s father, Brendan, to tell him bring Declan’s greyhound, Spur Titan, who was racing that night in Curraheen, up to the track.

The dog won, as did the Barrs.

After postponements on Monday and Tuesday, surgery on the double leg break went ahead on Wednesday. A metal rod, running right the way from his ankle up to his knee, was inserted.

Discharged that Friday, Murphy, somewhat naively, reckoned the worst was behind him. “The hardest part of that first week was getting into my uncle’s car to leave the hospital. It was very frustrating. There is one step up into my front door. It took me a minute to get in the door. You are questioning yourself as to how you are going to get through 14 weeks of this.

Not being able to stand in a shower meant Gillian, initially, had to wash me. You feel stupid that you’re not able to do anything.

Two days after being let home, Declan asked Gillian to drop him up to the Redmonds field where the Barrs seniors were playing the intermediates. Every training, he’s there, be it for 20 minutes or half an hour. He was even present for the video analysis session where he got to watch a rerun of his leg break.

Manager Ray Keane asked him to speak to the players before the semi-final against Carbery Rangers. He’d also have a private word with his replacement, John Kerins, son of the two-time All-Ireland winning goalkeeper, who was making his first championship start.

“I met people after the semi-final who asked was I disgusted at missing out on the final. Genuinely, I wasn’t. I was thrilled for the lads. Sitting above in a wheelchair in the South Stand, I was kicking every ball with them.

“Ray has asked me to be player rep ahead of the final, sorting out gear and food after training. Something to do.”

All going to plan, he’ll dispense with the crutches within the next month and be back at work for MSL Engineering in GlaxoSmithKline at the beginning of January.

“It is hard being out of work. There’s a mental toll, as well as a physical toll. If I got another one of these injuries, I don’t know would I be able to go through it all again.

“I’m getting my social welfare and a contribution from work, the GAA insurance will make up the rest of my wages. But I could be waiting for the GAA insurance for up to eight months. In fairness to the Barrs, they’ve been absolutely brilliant. They’ve told me not to be selling myself short.”

As for his return inside the whitewash?

“I’d like to get back, but I won’t hold myself to it. If there was another one of those 50/50 challenges, would I commit myself like I did that night against Douglas? I don’t know.”