Heatley 'traumatised' by wall collision incident

Carrick Rangers winger Paul Heatley says he felt "traumatised" after suffering injuries in a collision with the wall surrounding the pitch during Saturday's Irish Premiership game against Bangor at Taylors Avenue.

Speaking to BBC Sport NI's Thomas Niblock, the 38-year-old has indicated that he is on the road to recovery now following the incident which saw the match abandoned after he was initially treated at the side of the pitch and then taken to hospital.

Heatley sustained a concussion and a head wound as a result of his collision into the perimeter wall as he attempted to cross the ball with 53 minutes of the game played.

"The ball came in behind. I tried to follow the ball to the byeline to cut it back, then the next memory is 'brace for impact' just before I hit the wall and being on my side as soon as I hit it. After that it was a bit of a blur, and random clips of people being around me," said Heatley.

"The timescale is a wee bit strange after having other players contact me in the last couple of days and give me their run-through. I've had different snippets from different people. You start to patch things together clearer because your own perception was nothing like that.

"It's interesting to listen to, it's a wee bit concerning, and quite traumatic to listen to. Some of the feedback has been quite scary, but very grateful to come out the other side and get on the road to recovery."

The former Crusaders player, who spent 12 years at the Seaview club, added that he was "taking it day by day and recovering slowly" and had just been given permission by doctors to take a few walks to "clear my head" after previously being instructed to stay in the house.

He does not expect to return to action for at least three weeks.

Heatley, who announced his retirement from football after the 2023-24 season, only to be persuaded by then Carrick manager Stuart King to return a few months later, explained that he had to return to the hospital a second time after initially being treated there on Saturday.

"They [hospital staff] were fantastic in their response, I was very quickly scanned.

"They indicated quickly that there was no blood where it shouldn't be, no breakages, then [I was] released later that night and within a couple of hours I bled out again [from the wound], ambulance out here in the middle of the night and straight back in to close it up again.

"Then really it's just the healing time. It's still quite raw, I'm still recovering and it's still a wee bit foggy in my mind. Wee bits of dizziness are still playing a part."

Heatley says that the support he has received from "everyone around the Irish League has been overwhelming and really humbling", but in the days since the accident he has had time to reflect on how safety around pitches could be improved in the Irish League.

"I started to think and weigh up other clubs and their grounds. You do start to analyse things and wonder, 'why is it there'. Is there something that can be done?

"As a supporter of Irish League football I think it's relevant to have all parties learn from this experience. It sometimes takes a traumatic event to spur some action, something that needs to be done and hopefully this does create action rather than a lot of talking around investments into clubs and rectifying any risks that are associated with them.

"I think this incident highlights the dire need the clubs are in to really improve facilities around the clubs."

Heatley believes Saturday's incident was preventable.

"Some things that can happen in football you can't control, but others you do have control over and improving players' safety is paramount.

"It's time to step things up and eradicate silly environments that just puts players' safety at risk because what happened I think could have been controlled and dealt with. Hopefully scenarios like that are looked at through all clubs and we make sure no unnecessary incidents happen.

"It could have been a lot worse, it could have been really, really bad."