POSITIVE… Jack Milligan
THIS WEEK, last year, Enniskillen student Jack Milligan had just received his GCSE results, and was hours away from embarking on a trip to Poland to play as part of a Northern Ireland under 17 squad.
He never made it to Poland, and was instead told he ‘might never play football again’.
Because, the day before the trip, he suffered a cardiac episode in his home – and was admitted into hospital, in what was the beginning of a series of hospital trips and stays due to an abnormal ECG reading.
He was being tested for prolonged QT syndrome, which refers to a group of disorders that increase the risk for sudden death due to an abnormal heartbeat.
“I was taken into a room into casualty and told that he was being tested for a prolonged QT, which can cause sudden death in young people,” Jack told the Fermanagh Herald this week.
“I didn’t take it too well. It was shocked. I can remember it like yesterday. I was lying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling and holding my mum’s hand. My dad was in the window. They were both crying, they couldn’t believe it.”
And when he asked the doctors if he’d be playing football again, the reply came: ‘No Jack might never play football again’.
“I was in bits, I found it hard to recover from that.”
Jack spent the next few weeks in hospital, and would undergo testing until December.
“When this was going on, and doctors were telling me the results I was very scared. The fear was that I would go onto the pitch and drop dead,” Jack explained.
Then, he visited a specialist in London, where he was given the all clear. And he was soon back on the pitch with Glenavon.
“Then I started getting back, I got playing and enjoying my football. An injury kept me out of action, but now I’m heading back to school, and hoping to get more and more game time.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to playing football. I’ll be playing for the reserves and see how it goes.
He concluded: “The last year has been an up and down road. But I’ve come out the right side of it. I’d never heard of the condition before – but I’m glad I can move on with my life.”
To read more.. Subscribe to current edition
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere