IAN McKINLEY

The rugby player who overcame the loss of his eye to play Test rugby and helped open up the game to others who had been prevented from playing due to eye injuries or medical issues.

Main teams: UCD, Leinster, Viadana, Zebre Parma, Benetton, Barbarians, Ireland U20s, Italy

Position: Outside-half, centre

International caps: 9 (2017–19)

Points: 3 (1 penalty)

On 16 January, 2010, Ian McKinley was playing centre for University College Dublin (UCD) against Lansdowne in the All Ireland League Division Two. He was just out of his teens and part of the famed Leinster Academy system and had a promising future ahead of him as either a centre or outside-half, having already played a few games for the senior Leinster side. His world was to change completely within five minutes of kick-off.

Lying on his back in a ruck, a stray boot from a member of his own team caught him in the face and seriously injured his left eye. McKinley was rushed to hospital with a burst eyeball.

Over the coming months, the unlucky Irishman spent a long and difficult time having complex and risky operations to try and save his eye. When he wasn’t in hospital, he had to religiously follow strict medical advice on how to best help his eye recover.

One major consequence of McKinley’s injury was that his depth perception was affected. During his early days in hospital, he broke a glass of water when he completely misjudged its distance when he tried to pick it up. He effectively had to learn to recalibrate the way he perceived the world around him and it was three months before his vision had improved enough that his injured eye was able to see how many fingers his doctor was holding up during his frequent examinations.

It was another month again before McKinley was allowed to begin doing some light training. Before then there had been a major concern that too much movement or physical exercise could damage his retina. It’s fair to assume most people would have retired from rugby after such a terrible injury, but by the start of the 2010/11 season, with his left eye now having around 50 per cent vision, he began pre-season training with Leinster.

The first comeback

His condition didn’t stop some opponents from trying to take advantage or putting his sight at risk. In one game for Dublin club St Mary’s, McKinley prevented a player from taking a quick penalty and a scuffle broke out. Another opponent came from behind and dug his finger into McKinley’s good right eye. If that wasn’t bad enough, the thug admitted that he knew McKinley had a severely damaged left eye and that was why he had done it.

In February 2011, McKinley was back playing for Leinster and even picked up a player of the match award and scored a try in a game against Benetton. By May he had done enough to be offered his first senior professional contract and had regained about 70 per cent vision in his injured eye. But then, disaster struck. Playing for Leinster A, McKinley had to leave the match as his vision began to rapidly deteriorate. It turned out he had developed a complicated cataract and needed surgery.

Worse news was to follow: not long after this incident, his retina became detached and he needed yet another emergency