Mayo footballer Tom Parsons had his 2018 season ended after a gruesome injury against Galway earlier this year. Since then the GAA community has come out in force to wish him well.
It was immediately obvious the towering midfielder was in trouble when he went down, as Aidan O'Shea urged him to not look down at his leg. Parsons himself told Newstalk of the immense pain he was in.
The pain was something that I just can’t get my head around. Now I understand what 10 is, this was just excruciating. The pain was short term, it was temporary.
Speaking to balls.ie last month, Galway defender Eoghan Kerin revealed that he and other members of the Galway panel had sent Parsons a text after the incident: "I popped him a text on the Monday night just to wish him well. I think a lot of the other lads did as well, Army and Damo and I think a lot of the lads just touched base, more or less to just say best of luck with the recovery."
With Mayo in action today in the first round of the qualifiers, Parsons emerged to cheer on his former team-mates and was given a standing ovation by the crowd.
Standing ovation for Tom Parson @MayoGAA arriving at Gaelic Grounds today @SatSportRTE @RTEgaa pic.twitter.com/2NEBRPiWU9
— Martin Kiely (@MartinKiely1) June 9, 2018
A heroes reception for Tom Parsons from the Mayo faithful as he is here in Limerick to support his team mates. #inthistogether #mayogaa pic.twitter.com/uiFOK4utzo
— Mayo GAA (@MayoGAA) June 9, 2018
It was a lovely touch for a player faced with a significant rehab ahead, but as the Charlestown Sarsfields man said himself, his comeback will be stronger than this setback.
Teammates, Opponents, Supporters, and all you GAA people.. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all the Messages of support and Best Wishes at a rough time. "My Comeback will be Stronger than my Setback" 🙏
— Tom Parsons (@TomParsons_8) May 15, 2018
