Limerick's Seán Finn happy medics made concussion call

Sean Finn says it's important that medics are in the thick of things when it comes to head injuries in the GAA.

The defender suffered a first ever concussion recently playing for Limerick, with a head-injury assessment (HIA) meaning he was taken out of the game against Cork after a high challenge from Shane Kingston, who was subsequently red-carded.

Protocols kept him out of the draw with Clare the following week, but Finn was back on the pitch last week as Limerick ended a stuttering campaign with a big win over Offaly.

"It was my first concussion," he said at the launch of the John West Féile.

"I had concussion symptoms for a number of hours. I can see why you wouldn't want a number of them. It’s quite serious.

"I was keen to come on the field at the time. I was trying to make up the answers to what they were asking me – I think I got them all wrong! They said the best thing was to just keep me off. I was just shook. I didn’t train for 10 or 12 days, then returned to training.

"I think it's natural that you want to play. I would have gone on but that wasn't the right thing to do. It was good that I wasn’t in the position to make that decision.

"It was important that they used their initiative even though it might be the hard call to make. I think it's important that the medics do make the hard call and say, 'Look, put the player first’.

"It was only maybe 10 minutes later where I really showed symptoms of real concussion so it was probably a delayed reaction. If I was out on the pitch 10 minutes later I was a hazard to myself."

Asked about what symptoms he had suffered, Finn added: "Very much a loss of memory, severe headaches.

"I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know where my gear bag was in the dressing room, couldn’t