Two months from his final act in a Leinster jersey, Kevin McLaughlin recounts the horrifying sequence of events that led to his enforced retirement shortly after his 31st birthday.
Prior to a Guinness Pro12 game against Bennetton Treviso towards the end of 2014, Kevin McLaughlin would have endured the standard amount of suffering from a concussive injury. But over the subsequent 10 months, McLaughlin was routinely subdued by impacts to the head. And the frequency of the incidents, became a worrying trend.
McLaughlin refused to disclose his symptoms to others, opting instead to persevere and hope that the symptoms would disappear with time. Speaking to the Irish Times today, McLaughlin confesses that he misread his own capacity for pain and reflects on how he should have been more upfront.
Kevin McLaughlin interview: ‘I just didn’t want to accept it’ https://t.co/73H5THvZ77 via @IrishTimesSport pic.twitter.com/xxE6ABkYpx
— The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) November 28, 2015
'That’s one of the big problems with [treating] concussion – you have to be honest. No matter how good the medical team is – and we have a brilliant one in Leinster – it is about the player’s honesty because you can hide concussion symptoms. You can lie about them and if you do you are putting yourself at risk. I would encourage anyone struggling with symptoms to think about the bigger picture and put yourself first. Mine is not a pathway to follow; I was lucky.
Getting the modelling career back on track @santrysportssurgeryclinic #nosejob #earsnext pic.twitter.com/FaoySnAxgl
— Kevin McLaughlin (@KMcLaughlin6) November 25, 2015
'I began to notice in training that I was feeling a little bit dazed, a little bit starry-eyed. Impacts that would never have done anything to me before were beginning to have an effect. They made me feel a bit off. I ignored it because I was only hitting bags, I was only hitting rucks. I didn’t think there was too much to it.'
McLaughlin resumed playing one month after his encounter with concussion against Treviso. During the second half of that game, he dislocated his shoulder and was forced to take a seven month lay-off. It was in the interim that he started to notice an increase in the number of times he felt the symptoms of concussion.
Kevin McLaughlin leads his @leinsterrugby team out during his final game for the province against Edinburgh pic.twitter.com/0M1z23l7vK
— Stephen McCarthy (@sportsfilesteve) September 22, 2015
Everything from a placid game of keepy-uppies in the pool to more intense activities like rugby drills using tackling bags, seemed to trigger the onset of concussion. And it all culminated in last September's game against Edinburgh.
'I wouldn’t say I was concussed but I was as dazed as I had been a long time without taking a knock to the head. I was saying ‘what’s going on here?’ I was quite confused. I played on, and suffered a couple of more dazed incidents.In the second half I carried the ball into contact again, leading with my shoulder and was out cold. Garreth [Farrell, head physio] and [Dr] Ciaran [Cosgrave] came on and took me off the pitch; they did an assessment [HIA] and told me I wasn’t going back on. To be honest, I knew going into the changing room I was in trouble.'
McLaughlin underwent a medial assessment the following week and was sent to see a specialist in the Mater Hospital 10 days later. That vital consultation ultimately brought his career to an untimely conclusion.
“He told me that my increased susceptibility was a sign that I needed to stop taking impacts of any sort, whether to the head or anywhere else, unless I wanted to do permanent damage to my brain. There was no ambiguity about it. If he had said, ‘listen Kevin, you may think about retiring, I’m not sure,’ it would have been the hardest decision I have ever made. The fact that he, an expert, was clear about it made it easier for me.”
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