In 2012, Sean O’Leary led a life considered fairly average. Married and with two boys, he worked as a driver to pay the bills, and trained youngsters in Irish hurling a few times a week.
On one such average day at the beach in Cork, he hurt his right heel and thought nothing of it, covering it up with a band aid. Over the span of the next few months, O’Leary’s right foot deteriorated to the point where he was plagued with recurring pain.
A doctor would determine the cause to be an injury wrought by the rough play from his hurling training. However, six months down the line, the pain had become unbearable.
O’Leary could not walk, let alone work. Several more medical tests would later determine that he was suffering from osteomyelitis – a bone infection which had possibly stemmed from the cut on his heel months earlier.
Life for the Irishman for the next six years would comprise of medication regimes, operations, and several hospital visits, each of the latter lasting several months at a time.
In September 2018, doctors advised O’Leary that they would need to amputate his right leg to save his life.
The operation led him down a dark path. By 2020, O’Leary was on a regimen of painkillers and weighed 127 kilograms after turning to a diet of fast food and soft drinks for comfort.
However, a meeting with Straight Blast Gym Cork (SBG) owner and head trainer Liam-Og Griffin would prove to be a fateful pivot.
Griffin introduced O’Leary to Alta MMA training, which proved to be a silver lining in the dark clouds that had enveloped his days.
However, his suffering did not end then. Less than a year later, O’Leary lost his wife Rose to cancer.
Amid all the pain and gloom, O’Leary found relief with martial arts, and more specifically jiu-jitsu.
O’Leary, now 54, made his debut in the ongoing 15th Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the para category last Thursday, in which he lost to the experienced Brazilian Mario Edson.
He was back in action in the 85kg blue belt Masters 4 division at the Mubadala Arena on Monday where he suffered a first-round loss to Sattar Gulyev of Azerbaijan by submission. But for him, the journey is more important than the destination.
“It’s my first time in Abu Dhabi and my first trip abroad for a competition. My gym set up a gofundme, and friends and family donated to it,” O’Leary told The National.
“Yes, I lost the contest on Thursday but there are a few things I took from it. I started my preparation about four months before my fight. The drills and rolls I did with [trainer] William Cooper gave me the confidence, knowledge, skills and determination to succeed.
“Also, I felt that my progression from where I was to how I performed during my fight has made me realise that I am progressing in the game.”
O’Leary has two main goals in the sport: to get as many disabled people involved in jiu-jitsu and, personally, to earn a black belt.
“It has changed my life and it would be great to get others that may feel that, because of their disability, it’s not for them. But I want to change that thinking,” he said.
“I will continue to compete in jiu-jitsu until my body won’t allow me,” says O’Leary, who also plans to take part in the European BJJ championship in February 2024.
Whatever O’Leary achieves in life, the memories of his wife of 25 years, who passed away in October 2020, continue to drive him. O’Leary says she was the one who motivated him to make a fresh start after his injury.
“My wife was a major influence in all my training,” he said. “She was very sick during Covid but she was adamant that I train every day.
“I was 125kg with only one leg. She wanted me to lose weight and get healthy. The days I didn’t want to go training she would push me to go.
“I remember distinctly the day I had to bring her to hospital as she was very sick. When doctors told us that she needed to stay in hospital, I told her that I would go home and get her stuff to stay in hospital.
“The doctor informed me that Ireland was at its highest [danger] level for Covid and I wouldn’t be allowed back into hospital. She told me that I had training at 5pm and that I was to go, that I needed to lose weight and to get healthy for our two boys. My wife died five days later.
“I wasn’t allowed in to see her until the last few hours before she passed. So now every time I feel like not training, her last words would ring in my head and I would go.
“I think what my wife would be most proud of is that I stuck with it. I set weight targets and I achieved them. I got healthier both physically and mentally. She would be proud of my determination and consistency."
O’Leary is a fully qualified First Aid Instructor and is currently back in college to get a degree in neuromuscular therapy. His sons Sean, 27, is in Australia and 21-year-old Kyle is studying architecture in college.
“My willingness is to work hard and to keep going," he added. "Also, motivating others that they too can achieve their goals no matter how big they are or their limitations.”
Destroyer
Director: Karyn Kusama
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Toby Kebbell, Sebastian Stan
Rating: 3/5
UAE release: January 31
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
HAJJAN
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Match info:
Real Betis v Sevilla, 10.45pm (UAE)
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPAD%20PRO%20(12.9%22%2C%202022)
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Planes grounded by coronavirus
British Airways: Cancels all direct flights to and from mainland China
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific: Cutting capacity to/from mainland China by 50 per cent from Jan. 30
Chicago-based United Airlines: Reducing flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong
Ai Seoul: Suspended all flights to China
Finnair: Suspending flights to Nanjing and Beijing Daxing until the end of March
Indonesia's Lion Air: Suspending all flights to China from February
South Korea's Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air and Jin Air: Suspend all flights
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final second leg:
Juventus 1 Ajax 2
Ajax advance 3-2 on aggregate
ENGLAND WORLD CUP SQUAD
Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Manchester City (0) v Liverpool (3)
Uefa Champions League, quarter-final, second leg
Where: Etihad Stadium
When: Tuesday, 10.45pm
Live on beIN Sports HD
Company%20Profile
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RESULT
Valencia 3
Kevin Gameiro 21', 51'
Ferran Torres 67'
Atlanta 4
Josip Llicic 3' (P), 43' (P), 71', 82'
Mumbai Indians 213/6 (20 ov)
Royal Challengers Bangalore 167/8 (20 ov)
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets