Paul Heatley: Carrick Rangers player ‘traumatised’ by wall collision incident

Heatley says that the support he has received from “everyone around the Irish League has been overwhelming and really humbling”, but in the days since the accident he has had time to reflect on how safety around pitches could be improved in the Irish League.

“I started to think and weigh up other clubs and their grounds. You do start to analyse things and wonder, ‘why is it there’. Is there something that can be done?

“As a supporter of Irish League football I think it’s relevant to have all parties learn from this experience. It sometimes takes a traumatic event to spur some action, something that needs to be done and hopefully this does create action rather than a lot of talking around investments into clubs and rectifying any risks that are associated with them.

“I think this incident highlights the dire need the clubs are in to really improve facilities around the clubs.”

Heatley believes Saturday’s incident was preventable.

“Some things that can happen in football you can’t control, but others you do have control over and improving players’ safety is paramount.

“It’s time to step things up and eradicate silly environments that just puts players’ safety at risk because what happened I think could have been controlled and dealt with. Hopefully scenarios like that are looked at through all clubs and we make sure no unnecessary incidents happen.

“It could have been a lot worse, it could have been really, really bad.”