Ref hospitalised af ter sliotar strike to face

Witnesses describe ‘freak occurrence’ at club match

A GAA referee was recovering in hospital last night after a ‘freak incident’ in which he was his ‘full in the face’ by a sliotar.

Damian Lynch, of Buffers Alley GAA club in Co. Wexford, was in charge of an under-14s hurling challenge game involving his club and Shelmaliers at the Hollymount pitch near Castlebridge, Co. Wexford, when he was unlucky enough to be hit.

He was struck ‘full on in the face’ by the sliotar, leading to the game being called off as medical assistance was sought, witnesses said.

Mr Lynch was taken to Wexford General Hospital but his injuries were said to be so serious that he is expected to be transferred from there to St James’s Hospital in Dublin.

He suffered several broken bones in his face and his vision was affected, it was reported.

Mr Lynch was officiating at an under-14 match at the home of Shelmaliers GAA Club when the incident happened.

The game was immediately stopped as team officials and spectators rushed to the referee’s assistance.

There were concerns that Mr Lynch had a suspected brain bleed, which can lead to strokelike symptoms.

The chairman of the Wexford GAA referees’ committee, Séamus Whelan, said it was quite a serious incident, but he’s hopeful his colleague will make a full recovery.

‘I’ve just been talking to him and he’s still in Wexford General Hospital,’ Mr Whelan said after the incident on Wednesday evening.

‘He’s due to be transferred to St James’s Hospital in Dublin because they’re concerned that he might have a small bleed on his brain,’ he added.

Mr Whelan described it as a ‘complete freak occurrence’.

He said: ‘I’ve never heard of anything like it in all my time refereeing. The GAA community has been very supportive and are wishing Damian all the best and the thoughts of the refereeing community in the county are with him.’

A medical study of 900 hurlers over five years found that seven in every 10 suffered injuries. Most were lower limb injuries, at 68%; 18.6% were upper limb injuries; while trunk/torso and head/neck injuries made up 8.5% and 4% of injuries respectively.

The most common mechanism of injury in hurling differs from Gaelic football in that a high number – 39% – of hurling injuries are sustained during player-to-player contact.

Sprinting results in 24.5% of injuries whereas 14% arise from landing.

More than half – 57% – of hurling injuries are incurred during match play. Another 35% happen during training and the remaining 8% of reported injuries are described as insidious in their onset. This means that the injury isn’t attributed to one specific event or clear mechanism of injury.

The most common site of injury in hurling is the thigh, making up 23% of injuries. Knee injuries account for 12% of cases. And – peculiar to hurling in the domain of field sport – wrist, hand and finger injuries make up over 10% of overall injuries.

‘I’ve never heard of anything like it’