A Clare minor footballer is recovering at home after undergoing three operations on a finger infection which threatened his life.
Jack Morrissey spent nine days in University Hospital Galway after complications arose after he suffered a broken finger while playing for Cooraclare against Miltown in the recent Clare SFC final at Cusack Park.
His father Martin explained to the Clare Champion: "He had surgery on the Tuesday evening (after the final). On Wednesday, the surgeon asked us to come in and meet him. He said that it 'was only a matter of hours last night if Jack hadn't had the surgery when he did'. He'd have gone into organ failure and wouldn't have made it.
"Myself and Caroline (Martin's wife) couldn't get over it. On the Thursday and Saturday, he had surgery again. They got the right mix of antibiotics. When they operated on Thursday, if the infection hadn't stopped, they'd have taken the finger.
"Their biggest job, once they got the antibiotics right, was to save the finger. They did that."
Martin added: "There is no cut on the finger and that's what has confused everybody. They reckon that once the bone broke in the finger, there was some kind of clot.
"It was a real aggressive bacteria and once it got into the joint, it started multiplying. If they hadn't caught it that Tuesday night, it was curtains on Wednesday. If we had decided on Tuesday 'you'll be alright, we'll bring you tomorrow, it was curtains'."
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