Ryan O’Dwyer details frightening brain injury after a one-punch assault

Dublin’s Ryan O’Dwyer is well accustomed to a few bangs and bruises.

It is rare that the former Tipperary hurler ever comes off in a game without blood streaming from some open wound. But the half-forward is lucky to be back hurling at all after suffering a serious brain injury in an unprovoked assault. While following Ireland at last year’s Rugby World Cup he was punched in the side of the head outside a Birmingham nightclub on 30th October, and suffered a broken jaw, while his head hit the concrete footpath as he fell. He was rushed to hospital where he admits doctors were seriously concerned, as a CT scan of his brain was unclear. He told The Herald that it was touch and go if he would recover when doctors were looking at his scan results.

“(You) couldn't actually see a brain. You actually couldn't see one. It was a dark black."

Dwyer’s initial recovery was in hospital in West Bromwich, but he was allowed home after a week. However, he was far from cured, and his parents and family noticed a change in his personality as result of the incident

“I was under continuous assessment." "I was sleeping 20 hours a day. I wasn't in touch with reality. I was very irritable. I'd be getting cranky with Cliodhna (his fiancée). I was a horrible person."

O’Dwyer is now back to work and has decided not to press charges against his assailant, although he understands that the perpetrator is being brought to court on a separate matter from the same night. The 29-year-old has thanked the Dublin county board for their help, but he never considered quitting hurling due to his injury. Instead, he feels that hurling has helped in his recovery.

“It did cross my mind to pack it in, just to make sure I'm here for my son. "But I think my reason behind it all is, I only get to do this for so long. And I know that I have a very supportive team behind me. You only really appreciate them all when something like this happens."