Kellie Harrington says working in St Vincent’s Hospital is “nearly better than boxing”

"They don’t understand how much they (staff and patients at the hospital) mean to me, you know what I mean? And they mean a lot to me."

2018 may be firmly in the rearview mirror at this stage, but Kellie Harrington would be forgiven for regularly looking back at what she achieved last year. Having won a silver medal at the AIBA World Women's Elite Championships in Kazakhstan in 2016, the Dubliner dropped a weight class to 60kg and won gold for Ireland at the 2018 edition of the event in November, becoming the first Irish boxer to win medals in two different weights at that level in the process. The medal was a fitting reward for one of Ireland's hardest working and most talented boxers and it was an achievement she reflected upon with our own Dion Fanning in the latest episode of Ireland Unfiltered. As well as speaking about her incredible achievement and about living in the shadow of Katie Taylor, Kellie also spoke about life outside of the ring and, specifically, her job in St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin. Reflecting on what makes her job so special, Harrington said: "It’s a brilliant place to work, it’s a brilliant getaway and I think every athlete needs something to take them away from their sport cause you can’t go on 24/7 thinking about boxing."

People are like ‘and you’re still working?’ You know, I’m not a millionaire, I haven’t won the lotto or anything like that like or, you know, even if I did I’ll still keep working until I get told that I’m not allowed work on that ward that I work on anymore. They don’t understand how much they (staff and patients at the hospital) mean to me, you know what I mean? And they mean a lot to me.

"And yesterday, I was welling up like listening to them, and them all coming up and giving me hugs, and then I had to give them a little song, 'Jingle Bells', it's brilliant. I’m telling you, if you were there you’d understand exactly what I’m talking about, like it’s just magic, magic, it really is magic. "The craic we have and the bond we have, its nearly better than boxing, nearly. " You can watch the full interview with Kellie right here: https://youtu.be/KcRYD0nxZuI You can listen to the latest episode of Ireland Unfiltered in its entirety by simply clicking here and you can use #IrelandUnfiltered to join the conversation on social. Ireland Unfiltered, brought to you in partnership with Carlsberg Unfiltered, will be available everywhere you get your podcasts and on YouTube every Tuesday.