‘I see all these things as a challenge and once I have a goal to work towards that’s when I come to life’
Killian Minogue would have good reason to dwell on the past and the horror of a night out six years ago when he was struck by a van on his way home from a night out leaving him with catastrophic, life-changing injuries. But the inspirational Dunderry man tells JIMMY GEOGHEGAN he chooses to live a life of achievement and reaching milestones nobody, except himself, thought possible
It was an evening like many others. It was in March 2015 and a few friends arranged to meet up in Navan for a little get-together. Then it all went a bit mad and turned into a night that changed Killian Minogue's life.
He had been working in the Knightsbrook Hotel as a barman/waiter as he liked to do. A plan was made to go into Navan after the shift was over. Later he opted to walk home back towards Dunderry from Navan along the dual carriageway. Killian can’t recall exactly what happened next, much of it is wiped from the memory bank. All he knows is that, in an instant, it all changed, changed utterly.
“I was struck by a van, I died twice on the route to hospital, had to be resuscitated,” recalls Killian. “I died a couple of times over the next couple of days, my heart stopped and I had to be resuscitated again. I was stabilised in Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown then I was rushed to Beaumont Hospital.
“The people there, and in all the hospitals, are unreal, they saved my life effectively. I had to undergo a procedure called a craniotomy which means a piece of my skull needed to be removed to allow my brain to swell. That procedure took place, then I aspirated, choked on my own phlegm because I had developed pneumonia as a result of everything that was going on. That was another very, very, serious incident in Beaumont that I came through.
“From then on I was put on a life-support machine. I was on life support for about a month, then they kind of flicked a switch and you came out of a coma, you were weaned out of it, if I could put it like that. So for the next three or four weeks I was just coming to, going back in, coming to again, going back in, all the time I was starting to realise what had happened.
“I was completely paralysed at this stage from the waist down, my two legs weren't working and my left arm wasn't working. I had to be fed through a tube, straws, stuff like that. It must have been horrible, horrible, for my family because at this stage I wasn't too aware of anything. That first month for my family, I can only imagine how horrific it was for them.”
The litany of injuries the young Dunderry man sustained in the accident were extensive - “I fractured a bone called the sacrum, it's below your tailbone and it's the hardest bone in your body to break apparently.” He also had his pelvis and hip fractured. His body had taken a real battering but at least he was alive.
MIRACLE
Killian Minogue walks into the offices of the Meath Chronicle to talk about his life so far. He is helped along the way by a stick. It is something of a miracle in itself that he is moving independently. The fact that he is represents a huge tribute to the courage, the fierce resolve and determination the 28-year-old has shown to literally get back up and moving; to pick up the pieces after the accident that shattered his health and almost ended his life.
The journey he has travelled is nothing short of extraordinary. There have been many milestones passed on that journey, high points and low points but he has pushed on and confronted with the challenges as they have presented themselves.
He grew up in Dunderry and played hurling, the game he loved the most, still does. Winning an IHC in 2014 with his club was one of the greatest days of his life. He trained to be a metal fabricator and spent a few months working in that trade in New York in late 2014, early 2015.
It was a time when the Big Apple experienced one of the coldest winters in living memory yet he loved his time there. He also liked working as a barman and waiter, meeting people. “I worked at different things. I didn't have a plan as such, I was young.” Life was fresh and exciting and full of promise. The accident forced a change of direction.
He was told for instance that he may never walk again - but he was driven by a stubborness and a deep-down resolve to literally get back on his feet. After Beaumont, Killian had spells of varying lengths in a variety of hospitals including the National Rehabilitation in Dun Laoghaire and the Royal in Donnybrook. In such places he grafted and grafted. It was all part of his mission to restore some level or normality.
“I was told there was a very strong likelihood I would never walk again. I was told that was off the cards for me but they saw too the work I was doing in places like the Royal Hospital,” he adds. “I saw the way it was and I saw the body of work ahead of me. When the doctor told me I would never walk again I said I'm going to show him. I was always the kind of person that if you tell me I can't do something there is nothing surer but I'm going to do it. It's just my natural propensity.
“I mean I'm able to climb the stairs now. If you saw the work and effort it took me to stand up on one step, I'd say it took three months of work with my personal trainer at the Knightsbrook, Neil Heffernan. A big shout to him because I was in my wheelchair for a long time, I used to go into the gym, trying to clear the head, doing a few weights. He came over proposed a plan for me so we worked twice a week, every week, for about two years and he never charged me a penny, an amazing human being.”
Gestures like that helped to sustain Killian. The support of his mother Miriam, father Michael and sister Aoife, other family members has been huge. The support of faithful friends has been massive too.
He talks of how, because he remembers little of his life before the accident, is mates used to slag him about stuff he got up to before the fateful night. He knows much of what they tell him about his supposed deeds is untrue but it's all part of the banter - and laughs are always welcome.
FUTURE
The last thing Killian Minogue wants is people to feel sorry for him or to portray a 'poor me' kind of image. He wants instead to represent hope and optimism. There have been the dark days and he knows how easy it can be to sink back into the trough of despondency but he is learning all the time how to stay strong and resolute. He built up his body and he's also working on his mind, as many people, he rightly suggests, needs to do. He has learned valuable lessons along the way.
“I'm no good if I don't have a challenge. I see all these things as a challenge and once I have a goal to work towards that's when I come to life,” he adds. “The first thing you have to do as an individual struggling with a broken leg or mental health issues is to go and seek help. Once you have decided that's what you are going to do that's when recovery can really start. The hardest thing is to make that mental decision. To say 'Ok I'm ready to go and get help now.'”
One of the challenges Killian set himself was to return to studying. He did a course in Dunboyne College for Further Education, got a place in Maynooth University in business studies. Just before he started the course he moved from a wheelchair to using the stick. It was a big step. He's now about to start his final year. “A three year degree course has turned into a five-year degree course but we'll get there.”
A major success was chalked up a few weeks ago when he managed Dunderry to a Junior 2 HC title. That was sweet and deeply emotional for him. Having to give up his playing career was possibly the hardest thing he has done. Staying involved as a manager went a long way to softening the blow of that terrible reality.
“There was a lovely moment after that game. Myself and Liam Dempsey played underage growing up together. I was very emotional after the game, understandably so I think, and Liam came jogging over to me and gave me a big hug. It's things like that you remember, special.”
Killian has a broad outline of what he wants for the future. He would like to give inspirational talks, get his degree, a job, do some counselling. There are plans in place to build a house with adjustments required. He wants to keep working on his mind and body, strengthening himself further. He has travelled a long way since that fateful night in 2015. That mad, crazy night when everything changed.
KILLIAN MINOGUE ON ...
HOW MUCH HE MISSED PLAYING HURLING
"I have longed, and I mean longed, I get emotional when I think about it, I've longed to be back involved with my team again, unbelievably so. You have no idea the amount of sleepless nights when I've had tears rolling down my face because I can't go and play hurling, because I can't go into battle with the lads I grew up with, my brothers. Three years ago Tommy Leavy in Dunderry decided the club needed to set up a junior team to bring on young lads. He asked me to take the reins of it and I grabbed it with both hands I suppose. It was a project I could really get into because I knew enough about it, I knew the younger lads and the older lads, I knew how to talk to them as individuals and as group members. I thrive in that situation and words can't describe what it has meant to me."
THE IMPORTANCE OF FAITH
"I wouldn't call myself and overly religious person but I do pray, it might be to relatives who are gone. I was very close to my grandmother Rita and my grand-aunt Margaret, I'd say prayers to them. Faith has been a huge source of comfort. When things are not explainable to you and you don't understand why this or that is happening to you, you just have to sometimes let go and ask someone else to take it away from you whether that be a God, an almighty power whatever it is for you, it has certainly given me a lot of comfort."
THE IMPORTANCE OF SPORT AND PARTICULARLY THE GAA IN A COMMUNITY
"It gives you something to look forward to in the evening time. Just by going out wearing a jersey, whatever club you are from, playing with pride, passion, heart, determination. If someone sees you doing all these things that will give them inspiration to keep going. It gives them heart, a bit of fire in the belly to get up and face the day, day by day. Sometimes that can be the most difficult thing. Facing the day. Everyday."