A former Dublin hurler will set off on a 6,000km cycle across America next month to raise money for Bodywhys, the Eating Disorders Association of Ireland.
Cormac Ryan, 29, represented Dublin at minor level back in 2011.
Over the past decade, the Whitehall native has battled health issues and an eating disorder - but he is now in recovery.
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In 2021, he cycled 5,500 km from Achill to Athens with two friends and raised just under 50,000 for Bodywhys.
And speaking to Dublin Live, Cormac discussed why he wants to do another fundraiser, and his journey over the past ten years.
"I was hurling with Dublin and was happy out," he said.
"In February 2012, I started to get a lot of chest pain and breathlessness when I was exercising and I was feeling dizzy and tired.
"Long story short, they did a whole load of tests on me and I ended up in coronary care in Beaumont for two weeks and I got a pacemaker.
"So that went in and it kind of put a stop to hurling for a year.
"Technically it should have put a stop to hurling forever but thankfully it didn't."
Cormac, 18 at the time, said his mood dropped following the health issues and he gained a bit of weight.
"The following year, when I started to try get back playing hurling, some people started making comments," he said.
"Just comments in the dressing room that you would hear in many dressing rooms but they just stuck with me.
"Things like 'you've put on a bit of timber' and 'jersey is a bit tighter'.
"I would be kind of a relatively sensitive person and I took them to heart but that was the first time my awareness had been brought on my body shape or what I had been eating."
Cormac said the issue "slowly and gradually worsened" over the next few years.
"From 2014 to 2017, I was super obsessed with what I ate and having to have a low body fat percentage," he recalled.
"I would touch sugar, energy drinks or anything regarded as 'bad food'.
"I was still eating but it was just super clean.
"Then it got to the stage when it was beyond obsessive."
Cormac said things "really worsened" at the start of 2020.
"It got to the stage to where I was cutting out breakfast, then lunch, then I was only having one meal a day," he remembered.
"Then that one meal would be the same thing everyday, I would just have turkey burgers and broccoli on repeat.
"What started happening then was if I did eat anything, I would have massive spikes in anxiety and having panic attacks.
"It got to the stage where I started thinking about making myself sick and I stopped eating altogether.
"It was just a mess."
He said things hit their worst in 2021 and he sought help.
"I went into treatment for two months last summer," he said.
"Thankfully it's done its job. It's given me a quality of life again and got me back on the right path.
"It's still something you have to stay on top on, you don't just suddenly recover.
"I still do psychology sessions and you have to watch that you're eating enough and my parents still keep an eye on me.
"But in terms of the torment that was in my head, 95% of that is gone."
Cormac explained that he isn't only doing the cycle to raise money, but he wants to start an honest conversation about eating disorders too.
He said: "The money is obviously important but I want to raise awareness too.
"Eating disorders are so stigmatised. I want to bring the topic to the table because they're such secretive illnesses and there's a lot of shame that goes with them.
"So it's about getting the conversation started and getting people to take notice."
Cormac will kick off his cycle across America on May 1, starting his journey in San Francisco.
"I'm on my own, I'm solo and self supported so I won't have a support car," he said.
"So everything that I want to bring with me I will have to carry on the bike, so food, water, clothes and spare parts.
"Because parts of Nevada, Utah, and Colarado are so barren and there's long stretches of 200-300km between small towns to get even water, I've had to be quite meticulous with my planning for the first half.
"I have it relatively mapped out where I'll be and when provided nothing goes wrong.
"For the second half, once I get to Kansas and travel towards Missouri, Indiana, Ohio etc, I'm going to wing it a bit more because there's more towns and I don't need to massively plan ahead of time."
His cycle has been sponsored by HUH clothing, a shop based in Ashbourne.
If you would like to donate to Cormac's fundraiser for Bodywhys, click here.
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