Former Kilkenny hurler Conor Phelan says he was fortunate that he found out about his heart defect in time.

A screening session with Kilkenny in the mid-2000s revealed that the Clara clubman had a leaky heart valve and that signalled the end of his intercounty career. But it could have been worse had the problem gone undetected...

"I feel very fortunate. You look at Anthony Foley there, may he rest in peace, it puts things in perspective. A double-edged sword. Very fortunate I knew about it," the Ireland U-21 Shinty/Hurling joint-manager is quoted in The Irish Independent.

"I was 21, on the crest of a wave, thought the world was my oyster. My generation, Tommy (Walsh), JJ (Delaney), Taggy (Aidan Fogarty) went on to win multiple All-Irelands.

"That's probably the regret. But I had a great three years involved. Lucky that the Kilkenny county board took the initiative to get us all in and get screened. Only for that, I wouldn't know where I'd be now."

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