Conn Kilpatrick: Tyrone All-Ireland winner on gambling addiction

Three weeks ago Tyrone GAA star Conn Kilpatrick was lifting the Sam Maguire Cup in Croke Park but three years earlier he was struggling with a gambling addiction

Tyrone GAA star Conn Kilpatrick has opened up about his struggles with gambling addiction.

Speaking to RTÉ's Claire Byrne Live, the All-Ireland winner revealed how his addiction saw him amass debts of more than £10,000 on two separate occasions.

"I was borrowing from friends, family, my brother, my granny and just anywhere where I could get the money," he said.

The Edendork clubman said that through support from family and friends he can now keep gambling out of his life.

"Three weeks ago was unbelievable, but compared to three years ago - obviously I had a gambling addiction and that's when it all came out at home," Mr Kilpatrick told the Irish broadcaster.

Tyrone were crowned All-Ireland champions after a decisive 2-14 to 0-15 over Mayo last month

The midfielder revealed how an intervention from friends and family in February 2018 led to a temporary pause to his gambling before he relapsed the following September.

"In 2018 when it first came out, I didn't come to the forefront and say: 'I have an addiction'," the 24-year-old said.

"Three of my closest friends landed down to my house and they'd just heard too much and told my parents.

"I was actually at my girlfriend's house and I got the phone call from my father and he said 'come on home here' and I just knew by the tone of his voice that you're caught.

"I just remember landing home and my brother turning around to me and goes: 'He [their father] knows everything, you may come clean and just tell.'"

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Mr Kilpatrick estimated that his gambling debts were in the region of £10,000 to £15,000 at that stage of his life and for more than a year afterwards he avoided all betting as he tried to recover.

'Something just came over me'

Having initially called it quits in 2018, Mr Kilpatrick's said that in 2019 he relapsed.

"It was about a year and a half after I had first been caught and all I remember is waking up one morning and just going on my phone and starting it again.

"I just woke up and something kind of took over me.

"It's hard to explain, but I never had the idea of going back on it the night before, the week before, I just kind of woke up and started again."

Once again, Mr Kilpatrick racked up similar debts of more than £10,000 before a friend intervened and alerted his family to what was happening.

Mr Kilpatrick said he put his relapse down to complacency and avoiding helpful measures such as Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

Mr Kilpatrick says former Armagh Gaelic footballer Oisin McConville, who had his own well-documented gambling issues, also helped provide him with support

Three years on, the All-Ireland winner is in a much better place and said that he is now enjoying his football much more.

"I've been off it now a year and a half and it has changed my life, both on and off the pitch.

"Now I can go to training fully focused on the pitch and know what I have to do ," Mr Kilpatrick said.

"Whenever I was caught it was still a weight lifted off my shoulders and if you're big enough to own up then you deserve far more credit than you think you're worth," he said.

Information and support on the issues raised in this story can be found on the BBC Action Line website.