Former Derry captain and 2007 All Star, Kevin McCloy, has criticised the GAA over their reluctance to offer him compensation from an injury fund after he suffer a heart attack on the field of play.
Last August, the 36 year old was playing for his club, Erin's Own, when he suffered the heart attack and was left in a coma for three days. When he emerged, he was unable to work and set about contacting the GAA to receive payment from an injured players fund which was set up to deal with such situations.
However, McCloy, who was speaking to the Irish News, was told that he did not qualify for the fund as he did not suffer an accidental bodily injury.
I had fought for my life for the last three months and the last people I thought I would have to try and fight would be the GAA.
It just went against the whole ethos of what I thought the GAA was about.
I always found that the GAA was about family and if anybody was in trouble we all looked after each other. But I soon found out that whenever it came down to it they threw me up a letter like everybody else and said 'good luck'.
What followed was an extended period of wrangling in which his wife pursued the GAA, who then made a 'goodwill' payment to McCloy.
A spokesperson for the GAA confirmed that a payment had been made in line with what the Derry man would have received from the fund.
Kevin's injury is not covered as a pre-existing underlying condition.
But the GAA made a payment to Kevin that would have matched the amount had his condition been covered by the player injury scheme.
Despite the fact that he eventually received the payment, McCloy said he was disappointed by the extended wrangling, something which has certainly tainted his opinion of the organisation.
If truth be told for a few weeks and months there I didn't ever see myself sending the two children to a GAA pitch.
