The 54-year-old replaced Michael O’Neill as boss of the national team in 2020, only to be sacked in 2022 to make way for O’Neill’s return.
But the pain of losing his job with the Irish FA pales into insignificance when compared to what unfolded on the subtropical island just two days after he married his long-term partner Alexia three months ago.
The newlyweds were relaxing on an idyllic beach when he was hospitalised after being slammed into the sand by a wave.
Ian Baraclough led Northern Ireland to a Euro 2020 Play-Off Final during his tenure as boss
Baraclough recalled: “I thought I’d try to swim in with a wave and it obviously took me by surprise.
“As soon as I went to go with it, it flipped my feet and legs over and my head just spearheaded into the sand.
“I knew I was in trouble. I wasn’t in deep water but it was above my waist. I was sort of bent over and just had to try and get out as quick as I could. I got to the edge of the water and then I kind of dropped on my knees.
“People realised there was something wrong. I managed to get close to my wife and said, ‘I need help’.
If I had been knocked unconscious, I can’t imagine what would have happened.
“There was pain at that point. I think shock takes over. I knew something wasn’t right because I heard a crack as I went over and I couldn’t lift myself up.
“If I had been knocked unconscious, I can’t imagine what would have happened, because I could have gone under the water.
“People were trying to make me comfortable and my wife knew not to move my neck as I waited for the ambulance.
“She could see that the bone was not exactly protruding out of the skin, but that something wasn’t right.
“By that time I couldn’t feel anything from the waist down. The movement was gone. I was telling my wife, ‘I can’t feel my legs’. You start to panic.”
After a 45-minute wait for the ambulance, MRI and CT scans revealed Baraclough’s spinal cord was impinged by the fractured vertebrae in his back.
Baraclough told The Times: “Stupid things go through your mind. I vividly remember going down to surgery. I was holding my wife’s hand and I started to get upset because there was a fear that I wouldn’t have this normal life, and she wouldn’t have a normal life having just married me. Really strong feelings.
“I wouldn’t have wanted her to have gone through that sort of start to life.”
Thankfully, the surgery was a success.
“I couldn’t lift my legs but they were happy with the foot movement. They kind of thought that there’s a chance things would be okay to some extent. Later, they said, ‘Look, we’re going to get you out of bed’.
“You start to think, ‘I might be okay’.
“The doctors, the nurses, the surgeons, they were great. They pushed me. The surgeon saved my ability to walk. Undoubtedly.”
Ian Baraclough is now Sporting Director at Scottish Championship side Partick Thistle
Sadly, Ian’s father Roy – aged 90 – died whilst he was recuperating from surgery in Mauritius.
The ex-QPR player admitted: “When I knew I wouldn’t be getting away from the hospital for a few weeks, I realised it was going to be touch and go whether I’d see him again.
“That doesn’t make it any easier when that phone call comes through, but I was kind of relieved as well because I knew that he was a proud man.
“He dressed well, he always wanted to look after himself and make sure that he was respectable for others. I don’t think he wanted other people to see him if he was anything different to that.”
Thankfully, the man who guided Northern Ireland to a famous Euro 2020 Play-Off Semi-Final win over Bosnia and Herzegovina at the height of lockdown has made a full recovery from surgery.
He has since returned to work in Glasgow, where he is the Sporting Director of Scottish Championship side Partick Thistle.
When I knew I wouldn’t be getting away from the hospital for a few weeks, I realised it was going to be touch and go whether I’d see him again.
The club – managed by ex-Celtic star Mark Wilson – sit fourth in the table and lost 4-0 to the Hoops in a League Cup Quarter-Final tie on Sunday.
Reflecting on the horrific accident four months on from his trip to Mauritius, Baraclough added: “I can’t imagine what was going through my family’s mind. They’re thousands of miles away wondering whether their dad or their brother’s going to walk again.
“The response was pretty overwhelming, to be honest. When I was in the hospital bed, my family told me that it had been on Sky News, on the yellow ticker along the bottom of the screen. I didn’t think it was newsworthy, to be honest.
“But a lot of really nice messages were coming through, even from people I’d forgotten I had in my contacts. I was taken aback. At times, I put my phone down and I got a bit teary.”