A COVENTRY GAA star could be off the pitch for five months after being knocked over by a taxi on Christmas Eve.
Declan Harkin spent Christmas morning in hospital, receiving treatment for a broken leg and dislocated ankle, following the incident in the Holbrooks area of the city.
The 24-year-old, who plays for Coventry’s Four Masters GAA club, was returning home in the cab at 2.45am on Wednesday, December 24, after a night out in the city, when he asked the driver to stop at a petrol station.
He believes the driver then deliberately knocked him over.
“I was in the taxi and asked the driver to pull in by the Shell garage in Holbrook Lane so I could buy a few things,” Coventry-born Harkin, whose parents hail from counties Donegal and Mayo, explained.
“Then I came out and indicated to the driver I was going round the corner to go for a wee and he must have panicked and thought I was going to do a fast one.”
He added: “He then mounted the kerb and came at me - it happened in a split second. I looked at my leg and couldn’t believe what I was looking at - I could feel my foot flapping behind me.”
His brother JJ, who also plays for Four Masters, was first to arrive at the scene and called an ambulance.
“When Declan first rang me I thought there had been a stabbing,” he said.
“Then I got there and saw it was a leg injury and it was a bit of a relief in a way, even though it was so bad.”
He added: “His foot was basically back-to-front - this was clearly more than just an accident.”
The young sportsman – a builder by trade - needed emergency surgery and had half a dozen screws inserted into his broken right leg.
Although he pushed to be allowed to leave the hospital on Christmas day, Harkin has spent the holidays recuperating at his home in Roland Avenue and may not be fit to work or play for his GAA team for at least five months.
He has received get well messages from GAA clubs across Coventry and the Midlands, including St Barnabas in Nottingham and Sean McDermott's in Birmingham.
West Midlands Police are investigating the incident and ask anyone with information to call officers on 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
