Heavin's future uncertain after horror injury

IT'S every sportsman's worst nightmare. A career-threatening injury that could end all your hopes and dreams on your chosen field of play. And Westmeath ace Derek Heavin is currently going through this particularly grim situation, after the Castledaly stalwart sustained a horrific injury while playing for his county against Louth in the Leinster SFC semi-final loss on June 27. The affable Heavin, 31, suffered a plethora of injuries from one awkward fall, resulting in a dislocated knee and cartilage, cruciate medial and lateral knee ligament damage, as well as ruptured ligaments in his fibula (the fibula, or calf bone, is a bone located on the lateral side of the tibia). The appalling catalogue of injuries led to him having an enforced 12-day stay in Dublin's Mater Hospital, where he was operated on, and he now faces a rocky road to recovery and even the prospect of not playing Gaelic football again. The player, who only came out of inter-county retirement to feature for Pat Flanagan's side in the Louth game, spoke candidly to the 'Westmeath Independent' this week, and said his future in the game is unclear at present. Although in far better spirits now - with his three adoring children, Daniel (11), Chloe (6) and Killian (3) - lifting his spirits on a daily basis, now that he's generally house-bound, Heavin misses the game, and while not one to expect sympathy, his memories of and description of the level of pain on that fateful day in Croke Park is very vivid. "The pain was like nothing I've felt before... it was just unbelievable. I knew immediately that my knee was dislocated but didn't envisage further complications," he said. "The pain was so bad that I passed out twice on the way to the Mater. I had two bottles of oxygen gone by the time we reached the hospital. I was in terrible pain from the moment it happened, but the doctors knocked me out that night (June 27) and put my knee back in place. But the pain only started to subside about three weeks after the injury," he added. The Leinster SFC title winner from 2004 said it will take plenty of time to get back on his feet. Heavin's injury is not only affecting his sporting endeavours - but also carries with it some personal disadvantages. He planned on going away on a well-earned family holiday before his kids' return to school in September, but that's now looking more and more unlikely, given his current condition, while his working life has also been impacted upon. Part of the renowned and hugely successful Heavin family, of Heavins Home Improvement Centre on Athlone's Moate Road, Derek has been reduced to working from home, a tough ask when there's 16 employees to be directed. "Unfortunately, these things happen in sport, and it's tough to get to grips with, but you have to pick your head up and carry on. I'd love to run out in the garden and kick the ball around with Daniel but it's not possible at the moment. It's going to take a long, long time before I'm back on my feet. I've had one operation to date and almost my entire leg is in cast at the moment. I have to return to the Mater in a couple of weeks and they'll probably do a scope of the knee, and then I'll have to wait another few weeks to see what direction we're going in. There's an awful lot of rehab and physio' further down the road, so I'm way off playing again," Heavin said. "To be honest, it's simply too early to make any solid comments on playing again. Perhaps I'll have to settle for club football, if and when I do get back, but the inter-county stuff might be a step too far. It's hard to know at the moment but one of the specialists I saw told me to brace myself for the worst, and that's not being able to play Gaelic football again. It's a huge shock to the system when you hear that, but what can you do?" he added. Heavin obviously missed out on Castledaly's defeat to Garrycastle in last weekend's championship match, and says "it killed me" to watch that heavy defeat. Heavin was also thankful to the Westmeath County Board, and particularly Tom Farrell and Pat Lynagh, who have been very supportive to him since the injury. The Castledaly man also praised his Westmeath and Castledaly team-mates for all their support since the injury, and also Westmeath's senior management team.