Noel O'Connell gets 'scary' news on Operation Transformation

Kilcullen resident Noel O'Connell made his national TV debut last evening as one of the five leaders for the latest season of RTE's Operation Transformation, writes Brian Byrne. 

Selected after a stringent health and lifestyle assessment of a large number of applicants, Noel and his four leader colleagues will be on our screens for eight weeks, on a health and wellness journey under the supervision of a high-powered panel of experts. This year, the 17th season of the series, these are dietician Sophie Pratt, fitness expert Karl Henry, clinical psychologist Dr Eddie Murphy, and GP Dr Sumi Dunne.

On last night's opening episode, Noel O'Connell spoke openly about health issues that showed up a year ago, which have necessitated him going on medication, and raised concerns about his health while the father of a still-young family. The youngest of his and Katrina's four boys is Ollie, with Down Syndrome. "He is full on, we need to be healthy for him," he told show presenter Kathryn Thomas. "We're not bulletproof any more." 

On the first check-in of the series, Noel was presented with statistics that showed his weight at 108kg (17st 1lb) and his visceral fat at 17 — "That's high, and dangerous for you," Dr Eddie Murphy told him, saying they wanted to get that down to 10. When told that his metabolic age is rated at 72, the 57-year old was visibly shocked. "That's scary."

Dietician Sophie Pratt said Noel shouldn't need to be taking all the medication he does, and that dietary changes will help to cut down on them. "The right food is the medicine we all need," she said.

For this year, Operation Transformation's run will have a special meaning for Kilcullen, and will likely also be a big boost to the Kilcullen GAA Ireland Lights Up fitness programme for the community that is carried out in tandem with OT.

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