He was paralysed in an accident aged 23 while a young seminarian; as a wheelchair user his path to ordination was supported by the Archbishop McQuaid of Dublin, a family friend, and Fr William Purcell of All Hallows.
He continued his studies taking University College Dublin, obtaining a diploma in education, and an MA from Catechetics at the Lumen Vitae Institute in Brussels in 1963.
[2] A lover of sport, he competed in archery, table tennis, javelin, shot put and discus amongst other events, despite his impairment.
He was also a regular at Croke Park, where the RTÉ Commentator (another Drumcondra man) Michael O'Hehir would often point out Close sitting in front of Hill 16.
After a meeting in the Mater Hospital in Dublin, he helped found the Irish Wheelchair Association, which he became the first chairman of a post he held until 1964, when he went to Dunedin, New Zealand, attending the Paralympics in Tokyo on the way.