Gareth O’Callaghan: 'I took my first few baby steps unaided this morning' 

One of Ireland’s most popular radio personalities is delighted to be back at work and making a steady recovery after a crash in Cork left him with serious injuries.

Legendary radio DJ Gareth O’Callaghan suffered injuries to his back and lungs in a collision on Horgan’s Quay in Cork city in March.

Mr O’Callaghan resumed broadcasting on his own radio show last weekend on the Classic Hits radio station, after taking two months to recover. 

The 62-year-old writer and broadcaster told PJ Coogan on Cork 96FM’s The Opinion Line that he will back in the station's Cork studio in early June.

“He is still wearing this brace on his back,” said Mr Coogan.

“I’m doing fine,” said Mr O’Callaghan. 

“I took my first few baby steps unaided with no mechanical devices this morning, which was wonderful, just across the kitchen.” 

Mr O’Callaghan, who lives in Cork with his wife Paula and her two children Emma and David, will fill in for Mr Coogan during the summer holidays.

Recalling the fateful day of the crash, he said he was in mid conversation during heavy traffic, when there was a loud ‘bang’ and he knew instantly that his back was “in a very bad way.” 

 “It was an energy like I’ve never felt in my life before. I remember looking around seconds before the impact, because I knew Emma was moving around in the back seat, and I said to her ‘have you got your seat belt on?’ She had sat forward at that stage to show me the seat belt was on, and bang." 

People were running around outside, as a man asked him could he breathe or move. There were calls for an ambulance, and “I couldn’t move.” 

Mr O’Callaghan said he “never experienced pain like it” and he knew at that stage that his back was very badly injured.

“I knew my lung was definitely punctured because I couldn’t breathe. 

"I could hear the sirens within minutes. I could hear them coming from all over the city. 

"Then I could hear the emergency personnel trying to get control of the whole situation.” 

 A paramedic knelt down beside him and comforted him, administering pain relief and sedatives. 

“Paula came over to me, she was very upset, and I could see she was also injured.” 

Emma was treated in an ambulance as the Fire Brigade arrived, and a fire crew cut the roof off the car.

“I remember the rain falling as the roof came off, but I’ll never forget the sound of the cutters. 

"It was extraordinary the way the car was vibrating. Almost like you would peel off a lid on a sardine tin, the roof literally lifted off.” 

 Mr O’Callaghan was pulled out through remains of the back window and conveyed on to a stretcher. 

 Mr O’Callaghan was pulled out through remains of the back window and conveyed on to a stretcher. He paid tribute to the “incredible work” of the emergency services, the Gardaí, the paramedics, fire fighters, and the staff of Cork University Hospital and South Infirmary.

Mr O’Callaghan’s spinal column was damaged, and the nerves were bruised. The radio star has to wear a special protective ‘jacket’ as part of the recovery process. 

“It was the most terrifying moment in my life,” he added.