Ciaron Harkin talks about his double ACL injury and new deal

Derry Journal

Ciaron 'Jackie' Harkin talks to Simon Collins and Kevin McLaughlin about his ACL injury, recovery and his new Derry City contract.

Transcript

00:00 I'll take a few weeks off now. A week or two. I'm already a week in now. So I'll take another

00:04 week off now and I'll go away and then straight back at it before pre-season, try and get myself

00:08 ready so I can hit the ground running then pre-season hopefully. How has it been in terms

00:16 of your rehabilitation now? I know Rory was saying the other day, he could have had you back three

00:23 or four weeks ago, you know, where three or four games they go, but probably wasn't a sensible

00:28 approach with coming to the end of the season, get a good pre-season behind you now, everything seems

00:32 to see how it goes. Is that the plan? What's the plan in your head?

00:38 In my head during the season there, obviously after my last surgery, it was last October,

00:45 so in my head I was going to play this year. So after halfway through the season when I was

00:52 coming on, I was getting better and doing the rehab and things like that, I was thinking,

00:56 right I'm going to play this year, but then it just came to a stage where I started to slow down.

01:00 But obviously, Mickey Higgerty, it's up to him as well, he sees how I progress and it's up to him

01:06 really when I'm ready to play. But halfway through the season I thought maybe I could get a game this

01:12 year, but then we just had a chat and it was just, what was the point really, when obviously I was

01:18 coming out of contract and we started talking about them things. But it sort of made it tough

01:23 for me coming to the end of the season, knowing that I'm out of contract, not knowing what's going

01:26 to happen next year and knowing that I wasn't ready. You're talking about your coming back and

01:33 maybe trying to get games or whatever this season didn't work out. Last season you were in a similar

01:38 situation leading up to the cup final. How bad was it when you picked up the second injury again,

01:45 did you know straight away, oh no, this is me again? Ah well, at that time it's mad how

01:52 different the two years have been, the two seasons. Obviously I got injured in the second

01:56 game of the season last year and had a great pre-season. The first two games of the season

02:02 were Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers, so they don't get bigger than them. I was getting into them and

02:06 I was starting and I was feeling good. Then obviously I hit rock bottom and got injured.

02:12 But then as you say, coming into the end of the year, it was seven or eight months coming into

02:16 my rehab, feeling great. At the time when we were in the league, we were doing well,

02:23 everything was looking up and then it happens again. As I say, there was a cup final,

02:30 they looked forward to it and that was my goal. I see myself playing in the Viva with the boys,

02:37 obviously in that cup final I see myself making that, that was my goal and then it all happens

02:41 again. To be fair, I've been grand, being around the boys has helped. Obviously, them and Andy,

02:50 my family, everybody's helped me through it. But having it again, I've been there before,

02:57 I've just got on with it and I've got on every day and done my work. Now, I'm not speaking too

03:02 early like I did last year, but I'm over 12 months after my second surgery, so I'm a lot better off

03:10 this time and hopefully that can help come into pre-season now. That's what I was going to say,

03:15 because the second time surgery, Kevin, that happens mentally, you would expect it to be

03:20 tougher. Obviously, as you touched on there, because you have already gone through it,

03:26 you knew what to expect, you knew how long a process and how tough a process it is getting

03:32 back to full strength. So that made it a wee bit easier, is that right?

03:38 Not that I'm going to get... At the start, obviously, you're down at home, so you're like,

03:42 "Why me?" But then you just have to switch in, you're like, "Game on again." You have to go at

03:50 it again and you just have to get back on it. You can't feel sorry for yourself, you just have to

03:57 get on with it and get on and do your work. The last 12 months have really been a blur for me,

04:03 do you know what I mean? I'm here now and I know you'll get to the stage sometime. The next two

04:08 months might be a blur again for me, but there's going to be that day that I'll be on that patch

04:12 and it'll be all worth it then.

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