Three Limerick hurlers save clinically dead man after freak accident during club match

A YOUNG man who was clinically dead for almost three minutes after a freak accident during a club hurling match was brought back to life by three Limerick hurlers.

Dr Stephen Lucey and radiologists Conor Allis and Seamus Flanagan, who were all playing, rushed to Mark O'Kelly's aid after he suffered a cardiac arrest. They were assisted by nurses and backroom members in saving his life.

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Mark, aged 27, was playing at half back for Croom against Feohanagh-Castlemahon in an intermediate clash on September 24, 2023 in Ballingarry. Croom were winning with a few minutes to go when Mark gathered the ball.

“There was a fella in front of me so I sidestepped him. There was another fella coming behind him but because it was such a wet day I slipped and he slipped as well. My body opened up and his two knees hit me into the chest where my heart is. It was just a freak accident,” said Mark.

He suffered a cardiac arrest caused by a rare condition called commotio cordis.

“It happens when a sudden blow to the chest lands at an exact moment in the heart’s electrical cycle - just 20 to 40 milliseconds - disrupting the rhythm and causing cardiac arrest. It’s incredibly rare but can happen to anyone, even with a healthy heart.”

Mark says the heart flutters for 15 seconds and in that 15 seconds your body still acts like normal.

“I took off my helmet and lay on the ground. One of my good friends hit me a belt in the back saying, ‘Come on, you're only winded, get up, get up’. He focused back on the game and when he looked down at me again he said, I was just gone. They started roaring for Stephen Lucey.”

The GP was joined by radiologists Conor Allis and Seamus Flanagan - all three have pulled on the Limerick senior hurling jersey.

The cardiac arrest happened in the best possible place apart from in UHL as there was a GP, two radiologists, nurses and first aiders on the scene.

“There were four or five nurses at the match, our first aid team are all trained in CPR, there were teachers there who were trained in CPR. There were seven of them at one stage working on me. They ran for the AED straight away and that’s what actually brought me back. I was dead for nearly three minutes,” said Mark.

“I was unlucky that it happened but lucky that all of the people that were there knew how to do CPR and how to use an AED. They reacted straight away. I’m forever grateful to them and to the amazing team at University Hospital Limerick who helped me recover.”

The first thing Mark asked when he was taken off a ventilator the following morning was, “Did we win the match?”.

The son of Peter and Siobhan O’Kelly was delighted to hear the referee had blown up early with Croom in the lead.

“I was going around telling everyone I died to win,” joked Mark, who got expert care even after he was discharged as girlfriend Nicola Fox is a nurse.

After two weeks in hospital and lots of rest he was back playing hurling and football last year and is perfectly healthy again.

Mark is organising a 5km fun run in aid of the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) on October 4 from Croom GAA grounds “to give something back”.

He says IHF does life-saving work across Ireland.

“If my story encourages even one person to learn CPR, then it’s worth it. Over 70% of cardiac arrests happen outside hospitals. Bystanders trained in CPR can double or triple someone’s chance of survival. Please consider donating or taking part. One life saved makes all the difference.”

See Mark’s Facebook and Instagram pages for more.

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