“I don’t know where I’d be if I didn’t meet Johnny.”
At the end of the day, this is just sport that we’re dealing in. It can be very damn hard to walk away from but, crucially, you want to be able to walk away.
Brian Hurley has been through the mill, the ringer and whatever else in the last year and he has even more ahead of him. Ripping your hamstring from its bone could end a career but doing it twice takes some serious doing. And, still, the Cork man remains defiant.
Brian Hurley's hamstring trouble is downright scary and it could happen to anyone | SportsJOE.ie https://t.co/HyQvcSW9oU
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) April 27, 2017
Hurley is determined to come back yet again from another horrific injury but, as he has struggled with accepting the rotten luck and the months upon months of having to lay up and just let his body heal, he has found a friend in a different sport.
Johnny Holland is another man who has been plagued with hamstring injuries.
At 25, the Cork native was forced to retire from rugby on medical advice and his rise with the province was halted for good.
His attitude has been unbelievable though and now he’s still embarking on a career in sport – just not the playing side.
It was Holland who helped Hurley appreciate life outside of playing sport.
“Johnny opened my eyes to how important people are around you,” Hurley explained in a wonderful interview on The GAA Hour.
“Just things like the amount of time you give to people. If you’re walking down the street, you could spend 40 minutes talking to a stranger you don’t even know instead of giving 40 minutes to your brother who you’d probably take the head off. Just looking at life differently.
“He set daily targets and now he’s qualified as a nutritionist which is a massive step for him. For him, there’s no playing anymore where there is for me. That’s what opened my eyes.
“I realised I have a massive opportunity here where Johnny didn’t.
“You have to be positive. With the time on our hands now, there are small things you could be doing like helping out in coaching or giving advice to younger players whereas before you’d probably fob that off because you’re so busy trying to make yourself the best player. But you feel a better person about it and then it gives you a lift and they’re the small little lifts to help you get over every day.”
Listen to Hurley’s heartfelt take on Holland’s influence below from 50:13.
