Maurice Shanahan says he is in a good place right now, but there are still mornings when the Waterford man struggles to get out of bed.
It’s over five years now since the former All Star opened up about his battle against depression, and how he attempted to take his own life.
Shanahan says he would never classify himself as recovered but, married with a six-week-old baby, the Lismore man has plenty to look forward to in his life.
Speaking to promote Pieta House’s Darkness Into Light Run, Shanahan (31) said: “I feel very good, to be honest with you. We only had a child there six weeks ago.
“It was the best thing that ever happened.
“You can see the difference it made to myself and Katie. Just to have her around every day is unbelievable.
“Like that, I could still get up some mornings and mightn’t want to get up out of the bed.
“It changes everything in life when you have a baby.
“There’s not just the two of you anymore.
“There’s a little girl now and in myself and Katie’s eyes she’s our world and we have to look after her and give her the best future going forward. I remember being in the hospital the night she was born and Jesus... you get so much buzz off winning matches and that kind of stuff, but the buzz when Rosie came out was just great for both of us.
“I never thought it would hit home like that.”
Shanahan was dropped from the Waterford squad a year and a half ago.
He hit back in style with some scintillating scoring in the local club championship, firing a whopping 2-17 in Lismore’s victory over Fourmilewater.
But he says it wasn’t a case of trying to prove a point to Waterford manager Liam Cahill.
“I always want to play well for my club because it’s where I come from and they did a lot for me,” he said.
“I suppose the one thing that’s always in the back of your mind is that you would love to go out and prove a point.
“It was never a two-finger job or anything like that. I went out to do my best for Lismore. A lot of them were frees that were won by other lads as well.
“It was great going out scoring 2-17 and Liam was at the match that day and all. I remember that.
“I got interviewed on a local radio station after.
“The one thing I remember going into the interview was,‘I did it for my club. I didn’t do it for any other reason’.
“I went out to play well to help the 20 lads I was training with. That’s the only thing I wanted to try to do – to help Lismore try to get over Fourmilewater
“Four weeks later the tide turned and Barry Coughlan gave me a lesson below in Fraher Field in a county semi-final. So those things happen.
“You could go out one day and play well and another day you could go out and just play badly.
“I always tried my best. When it was for Waterford, it was for Waterford. Now it’s for Lismore.”
