The Irish World
Saturday 28 April 2012
GAA bosses say checks are vital – but say they can’t be expected to foot the bill.
The recent untimely death of London hurler Cathal Forde has put heart screening for all GAA players firmly back on the agenda.
Forde, 28, died suddenly two weeks ago while out training for the Kilburn Gaels Hurling Club.
His death was mourned throughout the close-knit London Irish GAA community.
Sports fans had already witnessed the collapse of Bolton Football Club star Fabrice Muamba which struck a chord with anyone with even just a passing interest in sport. Happy the Democratic Republic of Congo player is now well on the road to recovery, but he was clinically dead for 78 minutes.
Admittedly the London GAA was well aware of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) and had already enlisted the services of a heart monitoring company to screen members of both the London County Hurling and Football teams before the tragic events at Highgate a fortnight ago.
Coincidentally, the London County screening took place the same weekend that Muamba collapsed. But by then London’s governing body already had started to examine how it might roll out the service to every player across more than thirty clubs.
If there is solace to be had from Forde’s unfortunate death, it is that county-wide screening is now an inescapable priority.
So much so that last week London’s governing body accelerated its efforts to extend heart-screening beyond the County team to every player under the GAA umbrella.
Chairman Noel O’Sullivan explains: “this has become a priority for the board. This was on the cards regardless of recent tragic events but we certainly do not want to see that again. This is not about the County Board but for all clubs and when we get it up and running we will run it in the north, south, east and west London. It is vital that every player signs up for this, under-age players, adults and the girls from the ladies’ football and camogie teams. If a player says he does not want this screening he must think of his family, sons or daughters that he may leave behind if something does happen.”
O’Sullivan and his fellow officers contend that it should not be for them or the County board to fund the service. Each screening costs around £40 and there are over 2,000 players across the 30 or so clubs.
Instead the governing body is offering to act as a mediator and has written every club to gauge interest and see how many players want to put themselves forward for the service.
It will then invite heart monitoring firms like Healthy Heart Healthy Lives or Heart Aid (the firm that tested the London county teams last month) to tender for the County contract.
“We are the County Board but the board cannot exist without the clubs,” said secretary John Molloy. “it is up to each club to participate in this scheme and up to them to inform their members and encourage as many as possible to sign-up. Once we know what the clubs want we will act on their behalf. All we can do is provide the advice and talk to the companies that offer this service and see can we get a better price for it. We will wait until we get a response from the clubs to see how many want it but obviously it will be cheaper if 2,000 players sign up rather than 200. We want to get this message out there to the players. Often, delegates at board meetings forget to bring messages back to the clubs. We want to put it out there too so clubs can start fundraising if they want.”
County midfield football star Mark Gottsche attended Wednesday night’s training session. He was screened last month along with his team-mates from the London football and hurling panels and he backs plans to roll the service out across the county.
“I would encourage getting this done. When you see such high profile cases and Muamba and Cathal Forde it brings it home. I think if five people a week suffer from this (SADS) in Britain at the minute and it is not just sports people either. Everyone in the 14-35 age group should do it. There is no harm in getting it done, obviously the cost is another factor but I think it is certainly worth while getting everyone checked. Compared to the cost of a life the test is only £40.00. Okay it might mean finding out that you might not be able to play sports any more but you are still going to have the chance to live a long life”.
The procedure takes less than 15 minutes. Once a player has filled out an information sheet that asks basic questions like height and weight and asks for a record on family history he is ready for screening.
The 12-lead Electrocardiogram will pick up any genetic cardiac anomalies.
The results will be made available just before the player meets a doctor to take blood pressure and pulse readings. Additional advice is offered if necessary.
Grant Hollingworth, a resuscitation officer at a London hospital, gave a presentation to officials and players from several clubs on the London’s GAA headquarters in Ruislip (see separate story).
The Ruislip resident is calling for everyone to back the county board’s scheme and is encouraging sportsmen from every discipline to get the screening done as soon as possible.
“Although you may never have had a problem from childhood you may have an undiagnosed cardiac issue as shown by Cathal and Fabrice Muamba. I don’t think you can get a bigger reason than that,” he says. “Unless you get something hat is picked up after screening it can happen to anyone at any time. Why exacerbate the risks for the sake of an ECG and having your bloods taken.”
Thus far Tir Chonnail Gaels is the only club in London to offer screening to its players with a scheduled start date of May 26 and May 27 to get the ball rolling.
If your club or organization has experience of running a a screening programme The Irish World would like to hear from you. Please contact the reporter on this story, Sean Moriarty at sean@theirishworld or at [email protected] or by phone on 020 84537800.