From the times of Antiquity to the digital era, there have been many books written, books being more famous than others through the pen of many who wrote. There is one book that's never written and that is the Book of Life. It's full of unwritten chapters facing into the unknown but also full of unwritten chapters of events that happen over life; the events that we all cherish but also events that we would love to change and pretend that it never happened. These are the chapters of different phases of our lives but the chapter of hindsight is one that we all wish to turn back the pages and start all over again but the painful reality is that we cannot alter the course of our own personal history. It cannot be rewritten as much as we love to. It is the hypothetical question of "What If" and it's often asked on the benefit of hindsight.
For one Westport United supporter, on the evening of Thursday October 9th 2003, it was a day that was going to change his life forever with that fateful walk with his two dogs, Tiger and Sparky from his house on Saint Patrick's Terrace to McConville Park. That day, Jo Jo Gannon did what he did like every other day and that was enjoy life to the full. He liked to socialise down town, have his couple of pints and he liked to place an odd bet in the bookies but life was never going to be the same again. When he returned from the walk, he fell and hit his head off a wall and he couldn't protect as everything happened so quickly and he was in the most excruciating pain. Jo Jo desperately called for help but nothing happened. He couldn't move his limbs but he kept trying to call for help but nobody could hear his distress. Jo Jo was later battling with hypothermia and he felt something magical happening to him; a feeling that helped him to overcome his fear of death. His two dogs howled and lied over his body, their warmth keeping Jo Jo's heart beating. When two of Jo Jo's neighbours found him after some hours and they had to forcibly remove his loyal dogs so that Jo Jo could be removed to hospital but the damage was done, damage that one would not wish on others. The bottom of his spine was crushed and three vertebrae was smashed. The impact of the fall resulted in an imbalance forming on both sides of his brain. The latter means that his blood pressure can dip alarmingly for no apparent reason.
When Jo Jo woke up in Mayo University Hospital, he was given the devastating news that he was paralysed. For a man that was a tough nut and known locally as "Kempes" after the Argentina World Cup star from 1978, the legendary Mario Kempes, who was a tough man, Jo Jo cried bitter tears of sadness, knowing that life for him would never be the same again and he had to battle through MRSA and pneumonia and pulled through. Jo Jo was then transferred to the National Rehabilitation Centre in Dún Laoghaire for ten months of gruelling physiotherapy to help him regain some quality of life. Sadly, he was told that he was going to be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life and the news nearly pushed him over the edge. It was his lowest point but when he returned to Castlebar and to the Sacred Heart Hospital, he slowly found life getting better as family and friends called to see him and his witty personality returned and he eventually mustered the strength to engage in the Westport v Castlebar banter.
Jo Jo's love for Westport United has never diminished over those years and unfortunately, he missed the FAI Junior Cup Final in 2005 but in the years since, his good friends, Brian Cusack and Brian McNally would take him out for the bigger Westport United games and so has his nephew, David Moran and our appreciation goes out to these men for allowing Jo Jo the opportunity to watch his beloved club. Jo Jo was in his element at the games and if Westport United won a trophy, Jo Jo would always get in on a photograph with his heroes, and rightly so. Jo Jo is always kept up to speed on the happenings in Westport and Westport United and he has made a few visits to his beloved Saint Patrick's Terrace. Many of his neighbours have since gone onto Eternal Rest or moved elsewhere, but it hasn't diminished his love for "The Cottages".
Jo Jo's home now and it has been St John's Ward in the Sacred Heart Hospital and it's home to all his worldly possessions. Not only his room is adorned with family photos, including his parents, Broddie and Mollie (née Conway) but there is a very touching shrine for the club he loves, Westport United and every morning as he wakes up and when he goes to bed at night and falls asleep, every photograph of his family and of Westport United looks down upon him like a Guardian Angel. Another talent of Jo Jo that cannot go amiss is painting and some of Jo Jo's paintings are truly beautiful and can be viewed on his Facebook page. The visits that Jo Jo gets from family and friends undoubtedly lifts his spirits but when a Westport United member calls in, the visit is even more special.
Finally, today is Jo Jo's birthday and all of us would like to wish this special Cove a Happy Birthday.
*A Full article about Jo Jo Gannon appears on pages 278-279 on Soccer History Westport United 1911-2011
