Tyrone GAA star Conn Kilpatrick praised for opening up on gambling addiction
$5,000 Welcome Bonus
Tyrone GAA star Conn Kilpatrick has been widely praised after an open and honest interview about his gambling addiction.
The Edendork midfielder played a key role as the Red Hands scooped the Sam Maguire trophy against Mayo in September.
But, as he told Claire Byrne Live on Monday evening, things could've ended up an awful lot differently.
Conn spoke about an intervention from friends and family in February 2018 led to a temporary stop to his problem before he relapsed the following September.
"Three weeks ago was unbelievable, but compared to three years ago – obviously I had a gambling addiction and that’s when it all kind of came out at home," Kilpatrick said,
"It was tough to take and tough to kind of admit it, but I’ve had lot of help from a lot of people."
The 23-year-old explained how the problem manifested, and how it grew since he was a teenager.
"At the start it was quite innocent to be honest," he said.
"I maybe started about 15 or 16 doing a wee bet with my father and my brother on a Saturday just for a bit of craic and for a bit of banter.
"Then as I grew older it kind of became more apparent. I was going into the bookies more, I had a few online accounts, I just seemed to find myself in the bookies quite a lot and doing quite more than what had started off as a wee fiver bet that was quite innocent." he added.
Conn continued: "In the back of your mind you know that you have a problem and I have had many a conversation with myself on the way home from the bookies thinking I had that money there, why did I gamble it all again? I had the money to clear my debts and do whatever I wanted and get whatever, a car I wanted or go on a holiday.
"It just obviously never worked out that way..
"I was borrowing from friends and family, my brother, my granny, different friends and just anywhere where I could get the money.
"When you look back some of the things I said, it was crazy." Conn noted.
And people rushed to support the GAA star for his honesty
One user tweeted: "Fair play @connk14 - you are a credit - setting an example for all our young #gaa lads to beat addiction"
Another added: "Incredibly brave of @connk14 to speak so openly about his gambling addiction. "
While a third said: "Fair play to him it's the worse addiction IMO. Something needs to be done in terms of the coverage gambling sites have."
