An incredible hurler and a hugely inspirational human being.
Andrew ‘Shaughs’ O’Shaughnessy had it from the word go. He played under-21 for Limerick when he was only 16, and would go on to play a crucial role in their two famous All-Ireland wins in 2001 and 2002.
He was a shooting star for Kilmallock that the whole of Limerick knew about when he was still under 18 – his finest hour perhaps coming in a county minor final win over Na Piarsaigh when he scored 4-9 of Kilmallock’s 4-11 total in a one point win.
His sharpshooting and scoring heroics guided St Colman’s College Fermoy to three Harty Cups and three Croke Cups between 2001 and 2003.
The original boy wonder, there’s no doubt about it.
A scoring machine from a young age, we might not have seen the very best of Andrew O'Shaughnessy's talents but we still got to see some unbelievable striking, skills and scores.
The @KilmallockGAA man's @Laochra_Gael looks brilliant 👏pic.twitter.com/PoRC2juJWc
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) March 18, 2019
Shaughs wouldn’t have as much success at senior level, with Limerick struggling to capitalise on their underage prominence, but their gifted corner forward still made his presence felt in a couple of big Munster championship wins as well as on his county’s run to the 2007 All-Ireland final.
And that was all after his his inter-county career was cruelly cut short at the age of 24.
Being amongst a number of key Limerick players dropped by Justin McCarthy after the 2019 championship season paled in significance to what would follow however.
In late 2009, after his sister picked up on an abnormality in his lip movement when he was talking, a non-plussed O’Shaughnessy went for all the necessary scans.
It soon turned out that he had signs of the early onset of the disease Multiple Sclerosis.
That created an obstacle tougher than any marked he’d faced on the hurling field, but his reaction to the devastating news sums up the inspirational character you’re dealing with.
📺Tonight 9.30, @SportTG4 📺
Andrew 'Shaughs' O'Shaughnessy will go down as one of the most talented players ever to pick up a hurl.
His @Laochra_Gael airs tonight and it tells a hugely inspirational story about one of hurling's true greats. pic.twitter.com/SReHzWdlnI
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) March 20, 2019
“How did I come around to it?” he asks.
“I said to my mother or to Eimear (his wife), I said, ‘look, this has happened, this is life, you have to accept what happens it’s just how you react to it.
“So I said, ‘I’d prefer, out of anyone in my family, that I’d get it, because I feel I’m the one who’s strong enough to deal with it,” he said emotionally.
But he realises that wallowing in self pity will get him nowhere. And his response to MS is an inspiration to every single person out there to take life as it comes at you and to make the best of what you have.
“I’m not letting it get to me, I think about it once a day when I get my medication. Sin é, that’s life, get on with it. There are a lot of people in worse circumstances. There are a lot of people in better circumstances, but if you start feeling self pity, and start feeling sorry for yourself, you’re on the back foot straight away. Same as anything.”
“If you’re worrying about the future, you might miss the bus that’s driving down the road and it will hit you. There’s no point in worrying about that,” he says.
And this positive mindset defines his life nowadays.
“How it hasn’t escalated as normal from my diagnosis, that bodes well for the future hopefully.”
“It’s not as dark as it seems, there’s always light, as hard as it seems, you always have to stay positive.”
His Laochra Gael airs at 9.30 on Wednesday night on TG4 and it genuinely is a must-watch not only for hurling followers, but for every single open mind in the country.
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