Listen to the full interview with Sile and Kieran via the podcast.
Next Friday (December 13th), Acquired Brain Injury Ireland are holding a conference called Brain Injury In Sport at the Aviva Stadium.
Brain injury and the long-term effects of concussion have become increasingly important topics in recent years.
It's a subject we have followed closely on Off The Ball recently in relation to the NFL and rugby.
Tonight Ger spoke to Sile Fitzgerald who detailed her son Ronan horrifying story.
The 13-year-old, who is a cousin of Kerry footballer Kieran Donaghy who Ger also spoke to tonight on the issue, almost died following a bang to the head while playing rugby.
In November 2012, Sile and her husband were called to the local rugby club where she found Ronan lying in the dugout with an ice pack on his head with a pool of vomit beside him.
After rushing him to Kerry General Hospital, it soon became apparent that their son was "dying in front of their eyes".
Before being transferred to Cork, Ronan was diagnosed with a large cerebral hemorrhage - the same bleed that the wife of actor Liam Neeson died from.
But Ronan was clinically dead by the time he reached intensive care, although his parents were not aware of that fact at the time.
Miraculously after surgery, Ronan survived and although he is on the road to recovery, Sile told Ger that he has a long way to go.
"He's still on the road to recovery. He's a fantastic child. Ronan had to learn to walk and talk again all from a simple clash of heads or a boot to the head - we're still not sure. He learned to run, walk and talk again very slowly. Ronan has now returned to secondary school with extra tuition that we got him throughout the year. The school has been fantastic," said Sile who said she wants to spread a message that people need to act quickly and take decisions out of the players hands when it comes to the aftermath of concussion.
It is a sentiment Ronan's cousin Kieran Donaghy agrees with and recalled his shock on arrival at the hospital when he was told of the news.
"I was going to the hospital expecting a cast. But when I arrived, I wasn't prepared for the scene I saw and immediately knew there was serious trouble on the horizon. If you're involved in a team, I'd suggest heading to the conference and picking up any nuggets that could save a kid's life in the future," he said.
"I'm 30 years old and I've been playing football all the way up. I've seen guys on the pitch swallowing their tongues from being knocked out, I've seen Kerry players getting slaps and being knocked out on the field and playing on. It's easy for a manager and doctor to spot a broken arm. But if I get a bang to the head and I'm concussed, that's an injury to the brain and seeing Ronan, I realized how important the brain is and it's something we take for granted."
