Stand-in Kildare ladies manager opens up about his own injury after Hull City player suffers fractured skull
Stand-in Kildare ladies manager Morgan O'Callaghanhas spoken about his own experiences of fracturing his skull as a child after witnessing the shocking injury that Hull City player Ryan Mason suffered last weekend.
The Tigers midfielder was stretchered off in the first half of their Premier League clash with Chelsea after colliding with Gary Cahill, and it was confirmed shortly afterwards that he was in hospital with a fractured skull.
O'Callaghan criticised the media coverage of Mason's injury, saying that they sensationalised the effects of a fractured skull by suggesting that the 25-year-old was fighting for his life, with the Allenwood native outlining that such an injury doesn't necessarily have long-term affects on someone's life.
“People can fracture the skull without it necessarily meaning that you’re fighting for your life," he said.
“Of course, there are always going to be concerns and potential internal injuries but the whole thing of ‘Ryan Mason fighting for his life’…there are plenty of people who fracture their skulls.
“I doubt he’ll play football for quite some time but it doesn’t necessarily mean that his whole life will change.”
O'Callaghan suffered his injury as a one-year-old, and he outlined how he has never suffered from any lasting problems from fracturing his skull in what was a freak accident.
“An uncle of mine was throwing me up in the air and missed me on the way down!
“I landed on a concrete floor from whatever height he had thrown me from. I was unconscious for quite some time and up to about eight or nine, if I was playing at home an banged my head off the couch, I’d be out cold for a minute or two.
“Subsequent to that, I would have played football, hurling, soccer and no issues.
“It was always something my parents would have been concerned about. I remember I did a fight night in the club a few years ago and they were a little bit reluctant, saying ‘are you sure now?’
“Kildare did a fight night too and I did all the training. I remember then the doctor saying that if I never had an issue with it up now, I could box away.
“When you look at it, how easy such a serious injury can happen in football. It’s lucky enough it doesn’t happen very often but you can see how easily, just two lads going for a ball, could result in even a fatality," he warned.
O'Callaghan will take charge of the Kildare ladies this Sunday when they visit Laois in their first National League fixture of 2017. He is filling the void left by Kerry man William O'Sullivan on a temporary basis after the would-be manager stepped away from the job following the team's first training session.