Ten years since Athlone man's on-field cardiac arrest

By David Flynn

There is no end to the activities and achievements completed day-to-day by Athlone's Cathal Joyce.

However, he says his busy routine is not because of the serious cardiac arrest he experienced on the Cusack Park pitch, ten years ago this month.

It appears to be more likely due to the pure determination, and indeed stubbornness, of a man who raises the positivity level in every challenge he undertakes.

The story so far in the life of Cathal can’t be relayed without mention of the cardiac arrest, an event which could have changed the life of many young men of 25, which was his age on September 13, 2015.

On that fateful day Cathal was playing football with Athlone GAA in an Intermediate semi-final against Rosemount at Cusack Park.

He was fit at the time, and also involved in other sports, including soccer in Ballinasloe.

Cathal’s older brother, James, is a physiotherapist with Athlone GAA, and was on-site that day.

James, along with Dr Patrick Boland, (who was one of the Rosemount footballers) and Stacy Egan, who is a nurse, saved Cathal’s life.

After he felt unwell, he was brought to the dugout and then collapsed on the ground.

James immediately started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on his brother, before placing a defibrillator on Cathal’s chest. There was just one electrical impulse or charge in the defibrillator, but it proved lifesaving for the Athlone GAA player.

A rollercoaster of tests in different hospitals were carried out on Cathal, which diagnosed his condition as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, before an implantable cardiac device (ICD) was put in his chest to prevent further such attacks.

In the years since 2015, Cathal has been able to lead a path of inspiration for those with his condition, and their families.

As well as returning to Gaelic club football, and training others in soccer, he has become an inspirational speaker to many different community and sporting groups about his return journey to health and sport.

He is also an ardent horseman, and was an amateur jockey, who raced successfully in many local point to points.

In 2025, Cathal Joyce is still doing fine, and is always interested in encouraging and supporting communities and seeing that defibrillators are placed in strategic locations near centres of population.

"It's a different world now with defibrillators than it was ten years ago, there are many more of them around than there were then," he told the Westmeath Independent this week.

"School pupils are now using the recycling machines to pay for defibrillators, which is a handy way of raising money, and it makes children more aware of the importance of them for saving lives."

Cathal brings a positive mental attitude to everything he does, sporting and otherwise, despite the heart issue which could have killed him on the Cusack Park pitch.

"I'm more determined to keep enjoying life even more than before because I am stubborn," he said, laughing. "I play a lot of golf, for which you have to be mentally and physically fit, and I'm starting back also for another season of soccer in Monksland, both training and playing. I played badminton last week in Drum Community Centre, and that was some craic."

As he said himself, he "beats the road out of it with (his) dog regularly" and also cycles on the Athlone greenway.

"I'm involved in a lot in the horses," he said. "I don't own any at the moment, but I'm planning on buying a yearling."

Cathal is a member of two huge Athlone families. His father is Gerry Joyce, well-known physiotherapist and his mother Rosemary Joyce (formerly Sweeney) is a manager at St Hilda’s Services.

"I do listen to my body while working out, and get the battery checked in the ICD, and in two years' time it will have to be changed, but it’s lasted ten years and is better than the battery in an iPhone," Cathal laughed.

He continues to be contacted regularly by people who had similar cardiac arrest experiences as himself.

He has a great positive message for them, and as expressive as it is, it's a wakeup call for all.

"I do what I want, because why not? What have you to be scared of? Life is what you make of it!" he said.

He has a skiing holiday earmarked for Christmas, and has done a few hill climbs in recent times, including the Stairway to Heaven hike in Fermanagh.

"It's all about challenging yourself. I did some camping recently while golfing in Portrush, and I'm now playing off 9 handicap which is not too bad, but I was off 16 last summer," said Cathal smiling. "When they tell me, I can’t do something, I do it. I'm stubborn!"

Cathal studied Social Care in the former Athlone Institute of Technology and is now working as a Special Needs Assistant in St Hilda's school in Athlone.

His philosophy, ten years after surviving the cardiac arrest, is the mantra, 'Write Your Own Book'.

"I can run five or six kilometres, no problem, tipping away at my own pace. Running my own race.

I do a bit of everything, but golf and football are my main things."

He said the last ten years has gone by quickly, and points out that time waits for no-one.

"I believe in doing little things, and to have realistic goals," said Cathal.

"I've met a minimum of about fifty people who have been through Cardiac Arrest, and their families who sometimes find it difficult to cope."

He has spoken on RTE and Virgin Media television shows about his Cusack Park experience and has given talks to groups as far away as Liverpool and Vienna - talking before 1,500 people at the corporate gig in the Austrian capital.

Closer to home, Cathal has also worked with Darren Maleady with the Ballymahon Defibrillators group, and has given many different local talks including with Castledaly Foroige and he was also involved in a successful charity cycle in Mount Temple.

"I always want to encourage others who go through cardiac arrest, and show them afterwards how to, figuratively, write their own book on their life,” said Cathal.