Due to persistent knee problems, eight-time All-Ireland winner Richie Power announced his retirement from inter-county hurling on Tuesday.
Speaking on Newstalk's Off The Ball, Power outlined the 'wear and tear' which led to the decision.
So severe are his knee issues, Power says that he has spent much of the last year walking with a limp and that he may have to learn how to walk properly once again.
Over the last 10 months, the two-time All-Star has undergone three operations on the troublesome knee.
Obviously at 29 or 30 it's not a decision that would enter someone's mind but unfortunately back in October I underwent my third operation in the space of 10 months. At the end of that, I was more or less told that my playing days are behind me. There was just too much damage done internally to my knee. To have a standard of life going forward, it was time to call it a day.
I had my first operation when I was 16 when I was hurling with St. Kieran's College. I suppose it started from then when I got a bit of cartilage taken out of my knee. It's just wear and tear over the years. I did my PCL in my left knee back in the summer of 2014. So all these things accruing led to the knee being in such a bad way. It's unfortunate; definitely not a decision I wanted to make or have made for me. That's just the way things go and I've got to get on with it and move on to the next chapter.
Power told Joe Molloy and Colm Parkinson that he has 'very little, if any' cartilage remaining in his left knee.
I've no cartilage left in my left knee; very little, if any at all. Which means it's pretty much bone on bone in there, which is obviously a very sore thing to have going on in your knee.
I've tried everything in the last year between injections and having fluid taken off the knee. The last operation was a micro-fracture which will hopefully help me in the long-term. It's been years and years of wear and tear and unfortunately it's come to this.
I spend most of the last year walking around with a bit of a limp. I just couldn't get the knee to settle at all, it just kept flaring up on me.
After the operation in October I spent 10 weeks on crutches. It's only now that I'm starting to get mobile without the crutches. I'm still walking with a bit of a limp. I've just become so used to it. I probably need to go where I teach myself how to walk properly again because you're just so conscious of it.
You're compensating, putting most of your weight on to the right side.
I have four to six months of rehab ahead of me and these are just things that I have to get right if I have any hope of hurling with Carrickshock in 2016.
You can listen to Power on Off The Ball below.
Picture credit: Ramsey Cardy / SPORTSFILE
