Four years ago today, Oisin Merritt kicked a football for the first time following a horrific fall that left him in a coma – but this evening Merritt plays for the Irish Cerebral Palsy team at the IFCPF European Championships.
Ballybofey United man Merritt scored twice in a 5-1 win over Germany on Sunday and Ireland also overcame Denmark 8-0 last week.
This evening, Ireland play their final Group A game, against the host nation, Netherlands.
Both teams have already qualified for the semi-finals with the winners securing top spot in the group.
“It’ll be our toughest game yet, but we see ourselves as a very good side,” Merritt said.
Merritt has had a fine campaign for Ireland and will feature this evening – four years after he took one of his biggest steps.
Merritt had to have part of his skull replaced after a fall from a balcony in Spain in June, 2014, but in April 2017 he was given the go-ahead to return to competitive sport.
Merritt was dubbed ‘The Miracle Man’ by doctors at Son Espases Hospital in Palma after a fall that saw him suffer a broken skull, a broken bone at the top of his neck, five breaks in his jaw, a broken cheekbone, a ruptured spleen and permanent deafness in his left ear.
On August 1, 2014, Merritt – who had been on the books of Finn Harps – went out to the grounds of St Conal’s Hospital in Letterkenny and kicked a ball for the first time since his fall.
