AFTER SUFFERING A second stroke in January of this year, Sligo\u2019s Johnny Martyn was still hopeful that his football career could still be salvaged. The initial conversations with doctors were promising but a phone call in May cut those final strains of hope to ribbons and he was told that his body had no more chances to give.<\/p>\n
It was news he wasn\u2019t expecting and the cruel sense of disillusionment that so often afflicts athletes who are forced to retire followed soon after.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got a call from the Sligo team doctor and he told me that after further consultations they said it would be better if I stopped because the medication I\u2019m on is a blood thinner and if I get a bang, it could cause internal bleeding. I hadn\u2019t played any games at that stage but I was gearing towards that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t see it coming,\u201d Martyn added. \u201cThe good thing is that I\u2019ve had no effects and I\u2019m fully healthy. It\u2019s just there\u2019s a huge gap in my life. You\u2019re used to training and now it\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first couple of weeks, I didn\u2019t mind and I was able to go out more. But then it sunk in and it was hard to take especially when there were games coming up with Sligo and the club.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martyn\u2019s first stroke occurred at a Sligo training session a few days out from a championship game against Cork in 2014. The session was in its early stages when Martyn started exhibiting some of the classic stroke symptoms \u2013 mouth sloping to one side, and despite his attempts to communicate his despair, his lips could only produce silence.<\/p>\n
He put his career on pause to let his body heal and had his eye on a restart in 2015. Ankle ligament damage brought that comeback to an abrupt end and when he came back the following year, he was looking towards completing a full season of inter-county football without any interruptions.<\/p>\n
But while warming up to be introduced during an FBD League game, a similar sensation to the one he had felt two years earlier, resurfaced. The fact that this experience was less painful offered some hope that he could recover and go again in time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can remember (2014) like it was yesterday but I try not to think about it too much. When it happened the first time, I thought I wouldn\u2019t get back. But then I got an opportunity to come back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it happened the second time, the fear was there and I just couldn\u2019t believe it was happening again but it turned out to be a mini-stroke so it wasn\u2019t as bad as the first one.\u201d<\/p>\n
The St Mary\u2019s player can appreciate the aspects of his story that deserve to be celebrated. In addition to having no side effects from his health scares, the diagnosis still allows him to exercise so long as contact is excluded. But as he says himself, \u201che\u2019s not one for going for a run or going to the gym.\u201d In truth, there\u2019s no real drive to find any other pursuits while he continues to linger for the one that has been a constant in his life for so long.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not much left outside of Gaelic football. It\u2019s been my whole life. There were times when I was playing that I wouldn\u2019t be looking forward to going training but now I\u2019d love to be going.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been hard not being involved. One of my best mates who I play with lives down the road so I see him a good bit but there\u2019s other players that I don\u2019t get to see so I do miss that dressing room spirit. I\u2019m not 39 or 40, I\u2019m just 35 and while I knew that last year was probably going to be my last year with Sligo, I thought I could keep going for a while longer with the club.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a temptation to disregard the medical advice and play on with full knowledge of the risks, but that choice was taken away from him.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest if it was up to me, I\u2019d be back playing. When they told me, I said I was willing to take the risk but I wouldn\u2019t be insured so I had no choice really.\u201d<\/p>\n
Various causes can offset a stroke and while it seems bizarre that a high performance athlete could be stricken by something that is more commonly regarded as a consequence of poor lifestyle choices, it\u2019s not a rare thing in sport. All these possibilities were laid out for Martyn during his ordeal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe doctors explained a good bit of it to me and when it happened the first time, blood clots were mentioned. We played Limerick in the previous game and I could well have gotten a bang and that could have had an effect. They told me as well about blood clots in rugby and American football.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apart from attending games as a spectator, Martyn has temporarily withdrawn himself from football. This is not the end, but rather an opportunity to engage with the sport in a new way. Sligo manager Niall Carew and his club manager have extended offers to him to join their respective backroom teams, and the prospect of that new challenge already seems to intrigue him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll definitely get involved again next year. There\u2019s plenty of underage teams in the club and there\u2019s the county as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
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