THE resilience and remarkable fighting qualities displayed by a Killarney teenager who was paralysed from the shoulders down following a bicycle accident last year will be highlighted to a nationwide audience tonight when he appears on RTÉ’s Late Late Show.
16-year-old Ian O’Connell was this week discharged from the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire having spent the last nine months in hospital recuperating and in rehabilitation following the accident in Killarney National Park last August.
Brave and determined to overcome whatever obstacles come in his way, the sports-mad St Brendan’s College student returned home to Pinewood Estate this week and he is determined to fight to make the best recovery he can.
“All throughout my rehab I have put in an effort and the results are showing now. It goes to show that hard work really does pay off and you – and only you – can make the choice whether or not you want it,” he said.
“Recovery is not for people that need it – it’s for people who want it,” he added.
Ian, whose road to recovery has been chronicled since the outset by KillarneyToday.com, will tell his personal story to show host Ryan Tubridy and he will outline the many challenges he faces.
“I’m going to keep trying to get feeling and movement back in my limbs. It might happen it might not happen but I can always say I tried my very best because God loves a trier,” he declared.
“I don’t know where I’m going from here but I promise it won’t be boring,” he remarked.
Ian will be one of the beneficiaries of this year’s Ring of Kerry cycle and the administrators of a trust fund in his name said it will help meet his ongoing needs and the cost of any necessary adaptations to his home.
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