26 lBOXING NEWSlJULY 4, 2019 http://www.boxingnewsonline.net
➤ fights in a row. Next, he returned to the People’s
Gym with the sole intention of telling his brother
he was serious and that he wanted to show him he
still had what it takes. Kieran agreed to give him a
chance.
“I had to convince myself I could do it. I had
my doubts and demons to take care of,” Nathan
said. “But I just decided I had nothing else to lose.
Nobody expected me to come back from where
I’d been, so if I just came back and made it into a
boxing ring it would be a success. Week by
week, I kept getting better and better.”
All the while Nathan has been preparing
for both a new beginning and a comeback,
his brother, Kieran, has
been going about his
business as a trainer,
manager, matchmaker
and promoter. He has
a British Empire Medal
(BEM) now, received
for all his fine work in
the community, and his
younger brother is no
longer the only person
who uses him as a source of inspiration.
“God must have a bigger plan for me, I reckon.
Being a boxer wasn’t it,” Kieran said. “I now get my
satisfaction from seeing people I met at 14, who
were going down a bad road and came to the gym
to sort their lives out, working jobs and doing good
in life. That’s a better feeling than I had from any
fight I ever won.
“Boxing is a very selfish sport and I’m not really
a selfish person. If I’ve got six packets of crisps, I’ll
share them out and won’t keep one for myself.
“I can’t say I enjoy getting up at five in the
morning and coming home at 11 at night. It does
take its toll on me. But there will come a time when
it’s all worth it.”
Despite a career cut short, Kieran Farrell is asurvivor, a title far worthier than that of champion.
He is also one of the lucky few.
“Seven years later I do slur words from time to
time and forget things, but nothing too serious,” he
said. “I can’t do too much because it will burn me
out and I still get bad headaches, which feel like I’ve
been kicked in the head. I just have to be prepared
and always carry paracetamol. I’m all right in
general. People have had it worse.”
In a mark of his selflessness, Kieran says he was
affected more by what his injury did to his
brother than what it did to his own brain,
physical capabilities and career. He was,
after all, in some ways oblivious to his own
plight, at least in the
beginning, and says
the trauma he suffered
wasn’t a patch on what
his family had to go
through. “They watched
it and lived it,” is how he
explains the difference,
stressing that he was
able to maintain the kind
of positive outlook they
had yet to find. At 22, for instance, he figured early
retirement was sad but ultimately liberating. He
told himself he could win an Olympic gold medal
as a swimmer if he put his mind to it. He didn’t, of
course, but that’s not the point.
As for Nathan, his recovery was aided both by
his brother’s zest for life and, curiously, by his own
decision to return to the sport that has brought
so much joy, hope and then misery to the Farrell
family.
“The last four years were a huge struggle,” he
said. “When you’re going through a struggle it feels
like everyone has disappeared and left you alone.
It might not be the truth but that’s how it feels. You
don’t have anyone to talk to because they are all
getting on with their own lives. You’re just on theWITHOUT SPORT
I DON’T BELIEVE MY LIFE
HAS MUCH MEANING
TO IT. IT ALL TURNED
MY LIFE UPSIDE DOWN”
DISASTER:
Kieran is
taken from
the ring on
a stretcher
Photo:
ACTION IMAGES/
LEE SMITH