WHILE the news on his fractured kneecap was positive after his meeting with renowned surgeon Chris Connolly on Monday, Tiernan McCann isn’t out of the woods just yet.
The fact that he doesn’t require surgery at this point means that the prospect of playing football again this year is greatly increased, with his eyes on the Ulster championship opener against Monaghan on May 20.
But he is wary of the case of Brian Dooher. The former All-Ireland winning Tyrone legend suffered the same injury in a training collision with Ciaran Gourley’s head in 2007, and after initially forgoing surgery, he ended up needing two screws put in later on to aid a delayed recovery.
McCann’s leg has been in a brace, as it will remain until next Thursday at the very least. He will be allowed to bear a bit of weight between now and then using crutches, but still cannot bend the knee.
Since suffering the injury when he accidentally clashed knees while tackling Kildare’s Chris Kealy towards the end of Tyrone’s dramatic one-point win in Newbridge, he has been using Game Ready technology to speed his recovery.
The machine, the same as the one which helped Rory McIlroy recover from injury to win the PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2014, circulates cold water from an ice reservoir through a wrap, which is applied to the injured area and provides compression as well as ice treatment.
For the last 10 days, he has been using the machine 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off for the entire time he’s been awake, which has helped reduce the swelling and pain in his knee.
The initial prognosis was two months but there is an uncertainty about it. He isn’t expecting to be available for any of the rest of the National League or Killyclogher’s block of five games in April, during which county players are available to their clubs.
“I think the Monaghan game is the target to head for. I know it’s three months away, and I think that’s a realistic target to aim for.
“But it’s a very competitive team to try and get into and I know I have a lot of work to do to even be considered for the Monaghan game. That’s another issue.
“It’s hard to know. It’s a week-by-week basis, it’s kind of whatever the consultant and physio (Louis O’Connor) sees.
“The consultant explained today that it’s like playing chicken – you want to push it, to an extent, as hard as you can in terms of recovery, but you don’t want to go too hard and set yourself back. We have to be sensible about everything.”
Work is off the table for another few weeks at least, and with the GAA still not having sorted out his insurance claim from last August’s broken hand, he admits to having re-evaluating his priorities over the last six months.
At the forefront of his decision is the job satisfaction in the Republic compared to at home, which is largely down to the difference in the respective health services.
“Down there, they pay for everything. Up here, you’re shipping out prescriptions all day and people just want to see the doctor, they don’t think as much of the pharmacist.
“Down south, it’s more mentally stimulating because they value the pharmacist’s opinion. It costs them maybe €60 to see the doctor so you become the first port of call. They value interaction with a healthcare professional.
“A friend of mine was asking if someone up here came to me today and offered a full-time job, would you take it?
“A part of you would because it’s full-time employment at home, it’s handy, but it’s not stimulating.
”I’ve been locuming for nearly two years. I’ve been used to picking my own days, having days off to go to the gym or review games or do whatever bits and pieces I have to do, shooting.
“I’ve got in to that way and I’d find it hard to adapt back into a constant 9-6. I’d be tired going to training, then doing your cooking and extra training and everything around that, it’s quite regimented and strenuous.
“But then in examples like this, I’d be getting paid when I’m off. It’s a double-edged sword. It’s hard to know what to do. I’m starting to regret not becoming a teacher like the rest,” he laughs.
