Geraghty well on the road to recovery

Four days before Halloween last year Meath footballing legend Graham Geraghty was struck down by an unexpected bolt from the blue that sparked weeks and months of torment and worry for the All-Ireland winning captain and his family.

It was the ultimate nightmare any family has to face. A young father of four and husband of Amanda, Geraghty was struck down by a brain aneurysm that left him begging with God let him die.

Those dark, dark days are fading away into the background, another chapter in the most remarkable story of one of the greatest players ever to lace up boots in the Royal County is closing, but Geraghty is still aware there is a long road ahead of him.

"I'm starting to get back to normal, slowly but surely. I'm still tired a lot and I do have to go for a short nap every day. The energy levels are not there at the minute, I am getting better, but it's a long process and a lot better than it could have been," the former Seneschalstown and Clann na nGael star told the Meath Chronicle.

In the days leading up to Easter, when the story of Jesus Christ's resurrection is very much to the fore, Geraghty is glad to be still alive, but that wasn't always the case as the pain he endured in the early days of his illness pushed him to the edge.

There were no warning signs when Geraghty went to work as a social care worker with Three Steps in Trim on Tuesday 27th October. Just as he was finishing up his shift at 10pm Geraghty was talking to a colleague Ian Daly when he was struck down.

"There was no warning signs of this happening, nothing. I had suffered from migraines as a child, but that had nothing got to do with what happened to me, it was completely out of the blue," said Geraghty.

"I was talking to a guy at work and all of a sudden I got a massive pain in the front of my head that went right through my head, into the back of my neck. Thankfully he knew there was something wrong straight away and he rang an ambulance."

When the ambulance arrived Geraghty was rushed to Navan Hospital where his wife Amanda only managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of her strickened husband before he was whisked away and she was left outside because of Covid-19 restrictions. It was the fear of the unknown that caused so much distress for Geraghty's family.

"Ian rang Amanda and she arrived in Navan Hospital at the same time as the ambulance. So she saw them bringing me in, but that was the last we saw of each other for over two and a half weeks, she wasn't allowed into the hospital because of the Covid restrictions.

"That was a really worrying time for Amanda and the family because the next thing she heard was when they rang her the next morning was to say I was going to be having an operation.

"The doctors and nurses were absolutely brilliant to her because they kept her informed of what was going on, but once I went for the operation she was just waiting around all day to hear anything. A few friends called over to be with her, it was probably the longest day of her life to see how the operation went.

"Thankfully the operation was a great success and its just a road to recovery now," said Geraghty.

After assessment in Navan Hospital Geraghty was brought to Beaumont Hospital, where an aneurysm and stage-four bleed were confirmed — and 24 hours later he underwent life-saving surgery.

Rather than undergoing a craniotomy, Geraghty was recommended for coil embolization — a procedure which inserts coils into the sac of the aneurysm via a catheter that enters the body at the groin before being guided to the brain. The surgery, carried out by Dr Paul Brennan, lasted almost eight hours and was deemed a success.

However, the days that followed were the toughest battle Geraghty ever faced and the pain he endured was like nothing he had ever experienced.

Unable to eat or sleep, the slights glimmer of light hurt his whole body hurt. After a few days of that excruciating torture Geraghty felt he could take no more.

“The pain was just so horrific and it wasn’t getting any better. I wouldn’t be religious, but at one stage I just remember saying, ‘God, just let me go, let me die’. Because I didn’t want to go on," Geraghty told The Irish Sun in a recent interview.

“Then about ten minutes later, I heard the curtain being pulled back, this guy looked in and I kind of opened one eye, could just about make out he was a priest.

“I called him in, started telling him I wasn’t doing too well. He asked me my name, where I was from, asked about my family, was I married, had I kids, he got me talking about them.

“He said, ‘You’ve a lot going for you’. That made a difference, he really helped me at that particular time because I wasn’t doing well.”

Slowly, but surely things started to improve and with the support of his family and another Meath legend, Gerry McEntee, Geraghty finally started to see light at the end of a long, bleak tunnel.

McEntee's support was crucial in Geraghty's recovery, but there is still no clues as to why a relatively young man, just 48 next month, was struck down with such suddenness.

"More than likely it is something that could have been lying there dormant for years, the doctors don't really know," suggested Geraghty.

"It could have been an aneurysm I had for a long time, it could have been from a box I got over the years or it could have been from a fall, they just can't put their finger on exactly why something like that happened.

"When you hear what the potential outcome of such a thing is, that is when it really hits home. Gerry McEntee was keeping in touch and keeping an eye on me, he would tell me out straight exactly what was happening.

"He was great to Amanda too, he was ringing her everyday and letting her know what was going on because he was getting information from the doctors, so he was able to explain everything to her.

"It was great to have that information from Gerry and he didn't beat about the bush. He told her that I was a really sick man, but he reassured her that I had the best man looking after me."

When Geraghty got home he was overwhelmed by the support he received from all over the world. And just before Christmas he got a call from Bernard Flynn asking him to be part of the new-look under-20 set-up. Initially Geraghty was cautious, but his love of football meant he was eager to get back to the training fields as soon as restrictions, both by Government and his doctors, allow.

"The amount of support I got from everyone was amazing. I'm still going through all the letters from all over the country and around the world. I can't thank everyone enough for their well wishes and support," said Geraghty.

"When Bernard Flynn rang me around Christmas and asked me to get involved with the under-20s I was thinking that he must have ran out of other lads to ask.

"We had a chat about it and while Amanda wasn't really on for me to be doing anything, Bernard reassured her that it wouldn't be happening for a while and that I wouldn't have to worry about the early stages of the training because of the Covid situation.

"So he just left it with me and we said we'd have a chat again when I was obviously feeling a bit better. So I am looking forward to getting back and doing a bit with them because they're a good group of lads.

"The nucleus of that team got to a minor All-Ireland semi-final a few years ago and they have been putting in a huge effort on their own. At this stage I just can't wait to see them get back onto the pitch and get games.

"All those lads want to do is represent Meath and I know how they feel because I have been there. Obviously not in this type of a situation where they are waiting and waiting to see what is going to happen, but they are all eager to get going and play for Meath.

"I'm looking forward to getting back onto the pitch and being able to do a little bit of training with them too," concluded the two-time All-Ireland winner.