Tommy O’Donnell: I Didn’t Think This Was Possible
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On the verge of Ireland’s World Cup squad to the brink of retirement.
Tommy O’Donnell considers himself a very lucky man, not be starting on Sunday, but to be still playing rugby following his horror hip injury in the Millenium Stadium last year.
“I didn’t think this was possible at all”, O’Donnell told SportsJoe.
When the [doctors] first gave me a date, they were talking about the middle of March, April, before I’d even be back on the pitch.
“So you put the Six Nations behind you. Even when I came back against Leinster [in December], the Six Nations wasn’t anywhere near my mind. It was just about getting back and playing.”
O’Donnell amazingly turned a potential nine-month comeback into a mere four when he lined out for Munster, against Leinster, on December 27.
O’Donnell puts it down to luck:
“Speaking to [Ireland team doctor] Eanna Falvey the posterior dislocation like that, what it could have been and how bad it could have been, never playing rugby again, it was good news from the minute we went in and got the CT scan, and the X-ray.
“The hip wasn’t broken, there was no damage to the acetabulum, and that’s just good news. It sat back in nicely, the blood supply was good, all the bruising went away in six weeks, it was good news on top of good news.
“And after that it was just back to strengthening. It just rolled on so quickly it seems like a short process now even though it was four and a half months.”
The latest mountain to climb comes into view on Sunday afternoon.
