St Patrick's Athletic star Lee Desmond paid tribute to the doctors at the Mater Hospital for helping him recover from severe concussion symptoms earlier this year.
The Dubliner was knocked unconscious and had a seizure following a collision with Saints goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros in the last minute of a game with Waterford in August.
26-year-old Desmond suffered temporary loss of vision and was rushed to St James's Hospital, where he was treated for a swollen jaw and facial injuries.
In the days that followed, he had a wisdom tooth removed and, as the symptoms of concussion persisted, he was forced to delay his return to football.
Desmond visited Dr Tim Lynch at the Mater and together they devised a plan to ensure he made a full recovery, eventually returning to action last month.
The Saints finished the season with their fourth-ever FAI Cup title at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday evening and Desmond was central to the win over Bohemians.
"I was playing a match with my club St Pat’s and in the last minute of the game there was a fifty-fifty ball and I got my head to it," Desmond recounted on the Mater's social media.
"Our goalkeeper came out, caught me in the head and it was lights out from that moment. For the first minute I was out, I had a seizure.
"I woke up one minute later and then I was unconscious for another minute. When I woke back up my vision was completely gone. I couldn’t speak.
"I was trying to move my hands and legs but nothing was happening. It was really scary. Then my vision came back, I could speak again and I started to calm down.
"Before I knew it, I was taken to hospital, had a CAT scan and got the all clear, but that was only the start of it."
He added: "In the coming days my face got really swollen, I had to get a wisdom tooth pulled out and I started getting more concussion symptoms.
"After a while, my physios tried to help me return to play but when I got home from training one night and all my symptoms came back worse than before.
"That was when I had to go and see Tim Lynch in the Mater. Tim asked me loads of questions and we came up with a plan to deal with my symptoms if they didn't subside soon.
"Thankfully I am back fit now. Three months ago I was out with concussion and didn’t know when I would be back.
"Now we’ve just won the FAI Cup and I wouldn’t have been able to without the advice of my doctors and physio."
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