Cork man kicked his soccer career into touch to become a nurse

Leaving the world of professional football to study nursing may not be the most obvious career trajectory, but for Denzil Fernandes, swapping the pitch for a hospital ward has come naturally.

The 28-year-old Drimoleague man is from a strong nursing background. “It runs in the family”, he explains. “My mom is a nurse, my older brother is a nurse, and my younger brother is going into final year of college for nursing now.”

With nursing in the blood, Denzil had always considered it as a potential occupation. His first love, however, was football, and he had the skills to match. When opportunity came knocking in 2016, it was an easy decision.

“I’d finished my Leaving Cert,” he recalls. “And I’d always had aspirations to play football at a higher level.”

Denzil started playing with the Cork City FC Under-19s team, which took him across Europe playing in the UEFA Youth League.

“And then, when I finished my time with Cork City in the Under-19s, I didn’t get a chance with the first team at all,” he continues. “There was a lot of competition there, so I said I’d find somewhere where I could get more playing time.

“So I went to Cobh Ramblers first team. I stayed there for a year or two before going to Shelbourne up in Dublin”.

Denzil’s football career was flourishing when disaster struck. “First, I was out for a couple of months with a head injury,” he says of what would ultimately be his final season with Shelbourne. “I came back from that and was doing well, and then I was in a car crash with a team-mate.”

Returning to training after the crash, Denzil was doing well until his run of bad luck peaked with a serious anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury at the end of the season.

“I tore my ACL and had knee surgery at the Bons,” says Denzil, who was finishing up the last year of his contract with Shelbourne at the time.

“It wasn’t a great ending at all. But I think that it gave me a clearer picture of what I wanted to do after.”

During his time in hospital and in rehabilitation, Denzil was inspired to return to college and pursue a nursing degree. It was a career path he’d long considered before football took priority.

“When I was in Transition Year in school,” Denzil remembers, “I did a one-week placement in a nursing home and I just enjoyed looking after people, really.

“It was very interesting, and I was really driven by the fact that you’re committed to helping people with their day-to-day lives.”

Denzil applied to enter general nursing in University College Cork as a mature student. Successful in his application, he has spent the last four years studying and completing his clinical placements in Cork University Hospital.

Much like his football career, it hasn’t all been plain sailing.

“It has been tough as a student, juggling assignments and placement at the same time,” he acknowledges. “There’s a lot of learning, there’s a lot of tests. Assessors come in to assess you and ask all different questions about the patients you’re looking after that day. That can be quite tough, but you get through it in the end.

“There’s a lot of supports in place for you.”

His passion for nursing has also helped Denzil to get through the more challenging days on the course.

“In the hospital,” he says, “it would just give me such satisfaction to get people better. You could see that they were very appreciative of your help.”

Football and nursing may seem poles apart, but has Denzil brought any skills from the pitch with him to the ward?

“I would say so, definitely,” he says. “The skills that I’ve learned transitioned me into nursing, such as being committed, dedicated, and the sacrifices you bring into the job.

“In football, you sacrifice time for training to be able to play well on match day. It’s nearly the same in nursing - you’re sacrificing the whole day to look after someone just to get them better.”

Learning how to work as part of a team, so essential in football, is equally important in a hospital setting, as Denzil explains: “You need your team working with you throughout the day. You’re with your other fellow nurses, social workers, doctors, dieticians, occupational therapists, all for just one patient.”

Denzil is now preparing to graduate as a nurse, and will take up a place in the Acute Medical Decision Unit, an overflow of the Emergency Department. It is a job he has always wanted. Football, however, is back in his life.

“I went back playing with my local club, Drinagh Rangers,” he says of his return to the sport. 

“Just to get my confidence and my fitness back”.

Fitness is hugely important for Denzil, especially in the physical job of nursing.

“A colleague made a funny comment about me, saying that we could work together for more than 12 hours and she’d never see me sit down! To be fair, I am just so used to running around in sport.”

Fitness isn’t the only reason for Denzil’s return to football.

“I have aspirations to go back to playing in the League of Ireland, in the first division. I think that would be a cool flex, to have nursing in the background and playing League of Ireland at the same time!”

Whatever happens, Denzil has his family, including parents Camilo and Jean, behind him every step of the way, as he concludes: “I’m really appreciative of my parents for pushing me throughout my career.

“Obviously, it’s disappointing to not make it to a higher level in football, but I’m sure they’re still proud to see me graduate.”