He has just had a crash off his bike and broken his neck. Now paralysed from the neck down, he has given an incredible interview on The Late Late Show. Ian O'Connell is determined to carry on and excel.
After falling off his bike off-road in Killarney National Park last summer, Kerry teenager Ian O'Connell was paralysed from the shoulders down.
Now in a wheelchair, he does not even have the power of his hands or arms.
But his appearance on The Late Late Show was very impressive last night. He said if he couldn't stand up he could still stand out.
"When I fell off the bike, I turned to my friend Michael and said: 'There's something seriously wrong here'.
"I was looking up at the sky and saying: 'Is there any more I can do with my life?'
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"The minute I hit the ground I heard a big crack. And I knew there was something seriously wrong.
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"I told them not to move me. And the doctors said that was the wisest thing I could have done.
"Every night in intensive care, I kept asking why this had to happen to me: 'Why me? Why, Why, Why?'," he said.
"Life is a roller coaster; you don't know what is going to happen next. There is no point crying over it. If you can't stand up, stand out.
"I'm working, working, working. I don't want the injury to get the better of me or to define me."
Ian's interview was a really powerful piece; some of which you can see below. But for all of it follow this link.
"If I can't stand up I'll stand out"
16 year old Ian O'Connell recounts the day he became paralysed from the neck down.#latelate live now pic.twitter.com/8NWZFTPxtQ— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) May 11, 2018
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