A club hurler in Waterford has called on the GAA to install oxygen tanks in all club grounds after an injury left him unable to breathe.

Eoghan Breathnach would like to see oxygen tanks rolled out in the same way as defibrillators have after he suffered a punctured lung while playing for An Rinn against Baile an tSagairt in a junior hurling match on April 1 last. 

He told RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta:"I thought I was just winded, but then the medic from Baile an tSagairt came over and said that she thought I had broken ribs.

"I started to head towards the car with the manager to go to the doctor, but I collapsed after 10 steps. I was out of breath, and the breathing got harder and harder over the next 15 to 20 minutes.

"After that, I couldn't breathe really. The medic, Tina Ní Mheachair, sent her brother down to her mother's house to bring back her mother's oxygen tank. Without that, I was in big trouble."

The 37-year-old said it was a "frightening" experience.

"I was okay for the first five or 10 minutes after it happened, I was able to breathe a bit, and I knew help was on the way, but as time was moving on I was worried that I was really in trouble," he added.

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