ON THE eve of the Wexford-Dublin hurling clash this weekend, a retired hurler who lost a finger to the game has urged the GAA to offer better protection to its rank and file members.
Eric Flynn, (37), from Kiltrea, Caim has experienced a torrid five years of medical operations, the loss of his business and financial hardship as a result of an injury picked up on the hurling field in 2009. He has been saddled with a number of medical bills as a result of 24 operations on his hand since 1994.
He has recently been told by his mortgage provider that he had “no prospects” and would lose his house, as well as remarkably being told by the insurance provider for his mortgage that he would have been covered had his finger been severed off, not surgically removed before an amputation in 2011. He is in arrears of €12,000.
Mr. Flynn, speaking exclusively to The Echo, said he felt let down by the GAA as a whole and questioned the community aspect of it when there seemed to be no assistance for players who suffered serious, long-term injuries.
[Full story in this week’s Echo]