Westmeath stalwart Derek Heavin is facing the prospect of not playing football again after sustaining a horrific knee injury against Louth last month.

The Castledaly clubman, who came out of retirement to play in the Leinster semi-final on June 27, was detained in Dublin's Mater Hospital for 12 days after suffering a dislocated knee and cartilage, cruciate medial and lateral knee ligament damage. He also ruptured ligaments in his fibia.

"I definitely won't be playing with my club in the county championship this year," said the 2004 Leinster championship winner, who suffered the injury when his right foot got stuck in the ground as he attempted to collect a breaking ball.

"And I don't know if I will be every able to play football again. If I did manage to make a comeback, the fear factor that I might have similar problems with my knee would be very strong. A lot will depend on how my rehab goes, and I will be in the dark really until a good bit down the road."

He continued in the Irish Daily Mirror: "My right leg is in a cast from my ankle to almost my hip. I have a hardware retail business in Athlone employing 16 people, but because of my immobility, I can't go near the shop at the moment.

"I had two operations in hospital and I'm due to have another in six or seven weeks." Tweet

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