Irish footballer Mark O'Brien's incredible career after being told he'd never play again following heart surgery
The Dubliner enjoyed a storied career after undergoing heart surgery at 16 - defying all the odds to play for ten years
Gavin QuinnSports reporter
Mark O'Brien of Newport County (Image: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
Irish footballer Mark O'Brien has one incredible story to tell after hanging up his boots in the summer of 2020.
At 27, it would be considered an earlier retirement for many, but for O'Brien it's over 10 years more than he should've had.
A second heart surgery pulled the plug on a career that saw him defy all the odds to recover from a previous operation at 16 to enjoy an unlikely career.
And in a storied decade on the pitch, the defender faced-off with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva while also captaining Newport County at Wembley and scoring a crucial goal to keep the club in the Football League.
He made his debut under Nigel Clough at Derby County in May 2009 at just 16-years-old as the future looked to be bright.
But around five months on from his club debut and starring for the Republic of Ireland Under-16s and Under-17s, things started to take a worrying turn after a routine heart scan revealed slight complications.
Initially believed to not threaten his playing career in consultations, a referral to a heart surgeon brought life changing news to the Ballyfermot native.
He was told that he would have just a year to live unless he underwent almost immediate heart surgery and that he will likely never play professional football again.
He told The Irishman, Englishman and Scotsman podcast : "He (the surgeon) turned around and basically said to me, 'if you don't get this operation done soon you're looking at dying this year'.
"My only question to him was: 'Will I still be able to play football'.
"He said to me, you've a slight chance of playing, but don't be disheartened if you never play again - getting back to a professional standard - I don't think that'll be able to happen.
"I always had it in my head that the doctors gave me a small glimmer of hope that everything can go well and I can get back playing again. But looking back on it now, I had everything against me to say that I'll never play professionally again.
"I look back on it now and see that I've had to retire at 28, I look back on it now in a positive way to say that they never gave me a chance at playing professionally at all".
Mark O' Brien of Derby in action for Derby County in 2011 in Nottingham (Image: Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)
And O'Brien went on to enjoy a successful career across the water, albeit knowing deep down that it was on borrowed time.
He stayed on with the Rams in the years after the surgery, making his return for the club's under-18s and senior side around a year later.
Over the next three seasons, he went on to make 34 appearances for the club.
However, changing managers and moves away saw his career stagnate slightly as he went on loan to Motherwell in Scotland before an unsuccessful spell at Luton Town.
But at Motherwell, O'Brien was able to fulfil a boyhood dream of playing at Celtic Park and even crossing paths with a young Virgil Van Dijk at Celtic.
He enjoyed a 'kickstart' at Newport County after leaving Luton, joining the club in the 2017 January transfer window and making 20 appearances for the rest of the season - scoring a crucial goal to keep the club in League Two on the final day.
In a short few years with the club, O'Brien played 130 times and enjoyed cup clashes against the likes of Man City and Leicester.
But when the Covid-19 lockdown hit, O'Brien was rehabbing a knee injury and training at home when he felt some abnormal heart palpitations and suffered breathlessness.
After consulting with the Newport club doctor, a scan revealed the news he'd been dreading for almost a decade.
"It was tough," he admitted.
"I burst into tears, it was something I had expected and knew was going to come, but I was never fully prepared for it because I was always living on the dream.
"I was more upset because I knew what I had to go through in the physical side, the mental side, but I underestimated how much it was mentally going to affect me".
But after the surgery, O'Brien struggled being away from family and friends as well as the fact that his football career was over.
He continued: "Everything just felt as though it was falling apart right in front of me and I couldn't do anything about it."
Newport captain Mark OBrien has retired from football at the age of 27 as he requires heart surgery (Image: Nick Potts/PA Wire)
But after working with a counsellor, building up his fitness with the Newport club doctor and looking ahead to his future, he's optimistic about what the future holds.
And he's been able to continue his involvement with Newport County, offering up his help in everything from commentary to statistics and video analysis work.
"I have so much more of a grip on everything now, that it all seems normal to me.
"At the beginning I was trying to live in my head in a bubble, saying that everything was okay without coming to terms with and understanding it.
"It's the beginning of something new and I can progress on and fulfil different things and not hopefully have an operation hanging over me like I've had for ten years.
"I'm starting to see a brighter side to it than I have over the last couple of months."
You can listen to the entire podcast here.
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