Week 8 – The Painful Conclusion -Physically & Emotionally

The irishsummerofbill unfortunately took an unexpected turn earlier this week. Our class went to a teaching facility called Experience Gallic Games, at Fianna GAA Club, where they teach you how to play the national sports of Ireland – Handball, Gallic Football, and Hurling, and then you go on the field to play each of the games. Gallic games are very important in preserving Irish cultural heritage, they instill great pride in towns that compete with one another, and the championship games attract more spectators to the stadium than the Super Bowl. I was wearing a shirt with a Nittany Lion Logo on it and all the staff independently said “Penn State”. I was told that PSU Coach Bill O’Brien and later his replacement Coach James Franklin visited their facility and Coach Fraklin brought the team to Fianna GAA Club facility for their practices prior to the 2014 Kickoff Classic game vs. the University of Central Florida played in Dublin at Croke Park. Everyone was very quick to tell me how impressed they were with PSU players and how well organized the staff was.
Anyway, back to the unfortunate turn of events. If you are reader of this blog you know I am ‘all in’ on this study abroad experience as if I were 20 years old, except for the hostel stuff. Tuesday that cost me when I separated my shoulder in a Hurling game. I am now coming home about a week early from Ireland to see what needs to be done to put my shoulder back together.
The separation is fairly severe and the doctor here said he would judge it to be a type lll but added a specialist might see it differently. The doctor in Ireland also said it would get no worse and immediate treatment was not necessary. Of course I had to go to the Internet and there I read that if it is worse than a type lll (i.e. there are types IV, V, & VI) it needs to be addressed quickly to avoid more lasting nerve and muscle damage. I hate for things to end like this but I have had a wonderful two months in Ireland as a college student again, and if this injury is the price I have to pay for the experience, I would have gladly agreed to it going in.
Jackie got me in to see the Carolina Panthers team doctor next Wednesday (or earlier if something opens up). His name is Patrick Conner, and his specialty is shoulders. I am betting he has never worked on a Hurling injury, especially one that happened in Dublin! Given his name I am thinking I will get special treatment🍀🍀
I told my son BJ that he needs to make sure it is in my obituary (a long time from now I hope) that I ‘went to Dublin to take undergraduate courses in Irish history after retirement and was severely injured playing Gallic games in Dublin on a Hurling pitch”. I am betting nobody in America can claim that but me at age 66 (if at any age), and betting it with confidence☘
Tonight (Thursday) we had our final class dinner and tomorrow I fly back to Charlotte. I am excited to see Jackie, my children, grandchildren, and good friends again, but I will remember this experience with a big twinkle in my eye forever. Thanks for enjoying the ride with me.
Irish Bill
Pictures: WJK after shoulder injury; Class on the bus to the farewell dinner; Gallic Games center right before Bill hurt his wing; ; Brianna’s Adult coloring book