In 2002, Michael Downey was a rising star in the comedy circuit.
He came in joint third place with comedian Alan Carr in 2001 in the annual So You Think You’re Funny stand-up competition and along with Karl Spain, Neil Delamare and Des Bishop, Michael was among a promising new generation of Irish comedians.
But in April 2002, three months after Michael left his job to become a full time comedian, he was involved in a horrific car crash.
As he explained to Ryan Tubridy, he broke almost every bone in his body and sustained a traumatic brain injury.
"A woman lost control of car and ploughed straight into mine… I have a vague notion of thinking 'that car is coming for me' but it's vague and I don't remember anything else. Apparently it's post traumatic stress disorder… your brain says 'switch off for a while, you don't need to live through this."
Michael was in a coma for 13 days before spending months in the National Rehabilitation Centre in Dun Laoghaire. He was 36 at the time of the crash and spent years coping with the physical and psychological consequences.
"It changes your drive and your memory from being hugely enthusiastic about everything to not being terribly enthusiastic about anything. You just have to relearn how to live life again, to be excited about things again."
It was eight years before Michael returned to comedy. "When I went back I was rubbish," he said, "But thankfully in the last year and a half I'm loving it again."
You can listen back to The Ryan Tubridy Show here.