Packie looking forward after dice with death

STANDING in the new clubhouse overlooking Achill GAA’s home at Davitt Park, which has become his second home, Packie McGinty admits that he is a very lucky man.

The Achill GAA stalwart suffered a massive heart attack at his home in Springvale on Achill Island on February 29 last, and as the ambulance rushed past Davitt Park on its way to hospital, it was touch and go as to whether Packie would make it home alive.

“I had four blocked arteries, and the main one was well blocked… I was very lucky,” Packie told The Mayo News.

To everyone in Achill, Packie McGinty is ‘Mr GAA’. At the age of 78 he is currently the chairman of Achill Ladies GAA, and there is rarely a match involving an Achill or Mayo side that he would not be at.

For a man who never had any heart problems, the incident was a shock not only to Packie and his family but the whole community.

“I don’t smoke and I never drank in my life, and I would not be a big man for sweets,” the 78-year-old former President of both Mayo GAA and Mayo Ladies GAA explained.

“As far as I was concerned I was as fit as a fiddle. I was well able to go after the balls coming behind the goal here, and there was never any issue. It was a complete shock to everyone when it happened, nobody more so than myself,” he said.

Just a few hours before the heart attack Packie had been at the local surgery to give blood for routine medical tests. “Even when the results came back nothing showed up in them to suggest there was a problem,” he noted.

Helicopter to Galway

PACKIE recalled he had been in his car when he felt what he thought was heartburn. Just after he arrived home, a sudden burst of pain struck him. By chance, his son Martin who works as a mechanic had called to the house and was able to rush him to the local surgery in Achill Sound to wait for the ambulance.

The medical emergency facing Packie was so serious that the helicopter was on standby at Mayo University Hospital to bring him to Galway once the ambulance reached Castlebar. When he reached Galway his heart went into cardiac arrest, and as Packie describes it himself, ‘they had to jump-start me’.

“I remember getting onto the table and it was freezing and that was the last I remembered… I woke up then with two temporary stents, and the following Tuesday I had four stents put in. My consultant, Dr Briain MacNeill, a Limerick man, told me afterwards that I was a lucky boy.

“There was nothing going through my head. I had this pain but I was talking to them in the ambulance. The nurse told me afterwards that I was bad in the ambulance but I did not feel anything, but when they were lining up the helicopter it must have been serious.

“I frightened the family in no uncertain terms. When they got the phone call they did not realise it was as bad as it was. They thought it was a slight heart attack. Martin is probably the man who saved my life. He was not supposed to be there that day but he was in the garage for whatever brought him down. Somebody was looking after me.”

Well wishes

PACKIE spent two weeks recovering from his ordeal and has nothing but praise for the care he received from the medical staff in Galway.

It was not long before he was back on the road to recovery.

Although Dr McNeill convinced him that travelling to New York for the first round of the Connacht Championship would not be the best of ideas, there was no way to stop him from staying involved in football.

“Football has been good to me… football is my life, it is my second family… There was no way that I was going to take a step back from football.

“The amount of cards and phone calls from people asking about me was unreal. It was not just from Achill but all over the world. I made a lot of friends over the years through football and played in Dublin and London and in the Middle East. I brought the O’Neill’s football in the case with me to the desert,” he laughed.

During his stay in hospital, Packie’s six children were by his bedside, and they were able to avail of accommodation close to Galway University Hospital provided by Croí, the heart and stroke charity based in the west of Ireland.

Fundraiser for Croí

PACKIE said the support and care both he and his family received from Croí was second to none, and as a thank you, Achill Ladies GAA are organising a fundraiser for the charity. On Saturday, August 31, members of the ladies team plan to solo a football from Westport to Achill along the Great Western Greenway.

“The reason I am doing this is because of the fabulous service myself and my family received from Croí. A hotel in Galway is €180 a night and there were six of mine in Galway so that is not easy. When I was in hospital a nurse from Croí came over and asked if I had family. I said I had six and they are in a hotel. She said there is an apartment over there and she will put them into the apartments. The facility there is second to none and that is the reason I want to do this fundraiser,” he explained.

A number of people in Achill including the Dr Noreen Lineen-Curtis, Dr Paddy Lineen, Mary Patten, Klaus Sweeney and the late John P McGinty have been fundraising for Croí for the last 30 years and Packie says he now knows the money raised has been put to good use.

On the day of the fundraiser, Croí will host a community health event at the Achill GAA clubhouse from 1pm to 5pm. Their mobile health unit will offer free blood pressure and pulse checks, along with crucial information and advice on stroke prevention and heart health. This is open to the public and everyone in the community is invited to drop by and get a check.

Heart of the club

WHEN Packie was elected chairman of Achill GAA in the 1990s he made it his mission to set up a ladies’ team. At the time, his niece Christina McGinty was playing for Dublin but in Achill there was nothing available for women, and he was determined to change that.

Achill Ladies GAA was founded 25 years ago. At the time Achill was one of only four ladies clubs in west Mayo. The club had planned to celebrate 25 years in March, but the celebration dinner was cancelled while Packie recovered in hospital.

Despite his health scare, Packie has no intention of stepping back from his role with the ladies team and remains at the heart of the club.

“It is 24/7 this time of the year,” he said of his role as chairman of Achill Ladies. “We had U-13s playing last night and minors are out tonight and juniors on Saturday and the U-16s out next Wednesday. It is a full-time job, but I have a great crew with me.

“I never thought of stepping aside from football when got sick. Even though I had a heart attack and had four stents put in, I have not changed apart from having to watch what I eat. I am reconditioned now and have a complete new lease of life… I might even get another 100,000 miles on the clock.”

For more information about the event or to make a donation see Achill LGFA Facebook page or visit https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/CROIPeilnamBanAcaill