'I could have been paralysed' - Offaly woman went from playing camogie to emergency surgery

An Offaly woman has told how she went from an innocent game of camogie with her dad to emergency surgery in the Mater Hospital.

The Mater Foundation, the official fundraising body of the Mater Public Hospital, has spoken to patients from all over Ireland to gain an insight into their experiences in the Mater. Offaly woman Emma O'Connor has shared her story of receiving urgent surgery for a bulging disk. 

Emma explained: “Around 5 years ago I was playing camogie with my dad and when I stooped down with my hurl, I heard a crack in my back. I went to A&E and had an X-ray but nothing showed up and everything seemed fine. Then in March 2021, I went for a shower and the way that I got out caused my back to go into spasm. It locked and I couldn’t move at all. 

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"When I had my first MRI, it showed up that I had three bulging disks and I was told that I would just need some physiotherapy. But then one day when I stretched my back, I heard a popping sound and things got worse from there. It became painful for me to get up from sitting down and I ended up not being able to walk for more than 10 minutes," she continued.

Emma then went for a second MRI in early December but when the specialist looked at the scans, she told her to go straight to A&E.

"When I got to A&E, the doctor told me that my disk had slipped, that I would need surgery and that if I had waited any longer, I could have been paralysed from the waist down. It was such a shock that I burst into tears," Emma recalled.

"Before I knew it I was being transferred to the Mater and the next morning they took me down to surgery. When I woke up it was a bit of a shock seeing all of the wires attached to me but they assured me that the surgery went well. The staff were all so lovely, they were so helpful and so empathetic. It was hard being there without my family because of Covid-19 but they really made me feel like I wasn’t so alone."

Emma spent three days in the Mater before being transferred to Tullamore Hospital for another four days.

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"Since then my recovery has been slow but really good, I'm a completely different person now. I haven’t forgotten, but I don’t really want to remember the pain I was in. I do remember when I took my first walk after the surgery though and just how relieved I felt. 

"I don't know where I'd be if I didn’t have the surgery and I am just so thankful to all the staff in the Mater for helping me through such a tough time and bringing me back to health," Emma concluded.