Colm McDonald took charge of the 2024 Joe McDonagh Cup Final between Laois and Offaly at Croke Park. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
By Cian O’Connell
“It has been quite a year, to say the least,” Antrim referee Colm McDonald remarks about an eventful spell.
Diagnosed with type one diabetes in January, uncertainty followed, but McDonald took charge of the Joe McDonagh Cup Final between Offaly and Laois earlier this month at Croke Park. “Considering where I was at the start of the year to where I finished it, with regards to the GAA inter-county calendar, it has been a weird one to be honest,” McDonald adds.
Ultimately, McDonald has demonstrated resilience, and the value of a positive mindset has been illustrated. “Definitely,” McDonald responds instantly.
“Obviously, the time of the diagnosis, I didn't know where I was going to end up. I wasn't fully understanding of the condition and what the impacts were.”
That was extremely challenging initially. “Even after the first couple of weeks, the restrictions that were put on me regarding exercise and training, even what doctors and nurses would have considered training,” McDonald recalls.
“They did say 30 minutes of exercise a day was the maximum I could do, that even consisted of walking the dog, they considered that as exercise, whereas we'd have been training in gyms, doing gym work.
“Walking the dog is just something you'd do, but they considered that exercise. So, I wasn't allowed train in the gym for the first couple of weeks until I had all of the symptoms under control.”
January and February were demanding months for McDonald. “I hadn't been feeling great, looking back on it now I can see all the symptoms that were there, but because I wasn't aware of what the symptoms were, the indicators, I just put it down to other things,” he explains.
“When I was diagnosed with diabetes, it actually came with a bit of relief. Looking back all the symptoms were there, but I was diagnosed at the end of January, that is when I was admitted to hospital.”
Sport has always occupied a central role in McDonald’s life, so dealing with different circumstances was crucial. “It was a bit drawn out,” McDonald says about his return to training.
“It was at least a month to six weeks until I was back to what I considered near enough full training. I was used to going to the gym four times a week in the morning before I'd go to work. It took me six weeks to get to that stage when I was able to go back.
“When I went back I was still very conscious of the condition with regards to your blood sugars dropping, you can get feint and woozy. It took six weeks for me to get to the stage from diagnosis to even considering going back out on to the pitch.”
Being immersed in all matters GAA is significant in this comeback story, according to McDonald. “100%, definitely, in more ways than one,” McDonald states.
“Obviously, you have that focus. When I was diagnosed I didn't know what the impact would be, but speaking to different people in the GAA, the feedback I got from certain people was they might have known other type one diabetics, who had continued a sporting life.”
Inspiration was taken from others. “Somebody knew a gentleman, who still runs ultra marathons and does that,” he adds.
“It doesn't totally rule you out, if you treat it with respect and look after yourself, you can still reach targets.
“Through that my drive was to get back on to the pitch again, to see how I got on. Being fit and being healthy already was a major benefit with my condition and the impact it would have on my life.
“They talk about your diet, healthy living, exercise routine to help control your diabetes. All those were already in place because of what I was doing and who I was.
“So, then the focus of wanting to get back to where I was, but still treat my condition with the respect it deserved.”
In the intervening months McDonald made a welcome return to the inter-county circuit, culminating in being appointed the referee for the Joe McDonagh Cup Final. “I was absolutely delighted, speaking to John (Devlin), who'd be my mentor in refereeing, my focus was to get fit and healthy,” McDonald says.
“My second focus was to get back on to the pitch, whether I refereed or not, whether I was sideline official or doing the line, those were the baby steps.
“You'd keep setting yourself targets, to be honest nowhere on my journey had I went ‘I want to referee a national final at Croke Park at the end of the year.’
“It was so far off my goals for this particular year, it was an absolute pleasure and delight to actually be afforded that opportunity.”
McDonald’s patience and perseverance was rewarded. “It was a perfect end to what started off as a terrible year, I was absolutely delighted,” he says.
“It was so far off my personal goals which were to just get back out on to the pitch refereeing again at any level, I'm even on about club level.
“I didn't know how this was going to impact me so to get a national final was an absolute dream.”
