"My helmet saved my life:"

HAPPY TO BE HERE:   Waterford's Eoin Murphy

"When I went down, I deliberately stayed motionless because I didn't know what had cracked inside my head,"
- Eoin Murphy
 
 Waterford defender Eoin Murphy is looking forward to getting back playing hurling after suffering a traumatic blow to the head in April.  Murphy fractured his skull in a collision during a club game and there were fears that he would never regain consciousness.

Those pitchside that day worked hard to keep Murphy from slipping away and when speaking about the day, Murphy recalls the terror he felt as he lay motionless on the ground.

"My first thought was that something serious had happened," he remembers. "Just this sensation of bones breaking inside your head. When I went down, I deliberately stayed motionless because I wasn't sure what had actually cracked."

"If it wasn't for my helmet, I wouldn't be here," - Murphy publicly revealed this week.

The 2006 All-Star hopes to return for the All-Ireland semi-finals in mid-August (should Waterford still be in the competition); but for now he is happy just to be alive.