Anger at delay in ambulance to aid stricken player

County GAA Chairman, Diarmuid Devereux has slammed the lengthy delay in an ambulance getting to a match-venue last weekend to aid a stricken player who, it has emerged, suffered a broken leg.

Buffers Alley’s Pat Kenny, a recent Wexford senior hurler, sustained the blow two minutes into Sunday afternoon’s county intermediate hurling championship clash with Blackwater at St. Patrick’s Park – but he was left waiting 45 minutes before an ambulance arrived from Carlow to transport him to Ardkeen Hospital in Waterford, where he underwent an operation yesterday morning (Monday).

Fortunately, both teams involved are well staffed medically, including in the form of Buffers Alley manager, Aidan O’Connor, and this helped alleviate some of 24-year-old Kenny’s suffering.

The ‘Alley manager together with match-referee, Nicholas Kehoe, reacted in a professional manner to ensure Kenny’s safety, and with the lengthy wait for an ambulance, the referee had no option but to abandon the third-round fixture.

“I wasn’t there, but I am led to believe that they were waiting over 40 minutes for the ambulance – and it had to come from Carlow,” the CountyChairman exclaimed. “That is absolutely shocking to think that at one of the busiest times of the year in Wexford, with the beaches and everything else packed, that we had to wait from an ambulance to come from Carlow to assist a young player with a broken leg. It is absolutely infuriating.

“What the player was put through because of the wait was totally unfair,” Devereux adds.

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