0:01
from an early age like all i wanted to
0:02
do was be a footballer
0:05
probably about six months before i was
0:06
diagnosed i did have some sort of
0:09
but never did i think that it was like
0:12
symptoms for leukemia
0:15
i feel like sports has been sort of
0:17
embedded in me john i mean from day one
0:19
from 13 i was at coventry you know i
0:22
progressed on to aston villa
0:23
and i spent like like a few professional
0:26
see first team players playing premier
0:28
league and it just made me want it more
0:30
i was on my way there my sole focus was
0:34
on football and i felt like
0:35
you know i was really close to achieving
0:39
i had a game on a saturday i was warming
0:41
up and i just felt like terrible so i
0:43
said to the manager like i don't feel
0:47
the following day i woke up with them
0:49
like my lymph nodes had swollen
0:50
on my left side of my neck obviously
0:52
with it being a sunday i couldn't go to
0:54
the doctor so i went the following day
0:56
they took my bloods and then i got a
0:57
call from an unknown number at like 10
0:59
o'clock at night she didn't really give
1:00
too much away she just basically said
1:02
i needed to pack her overnight bag get
1:04
in as soon as soon as you can
1:06
i stayed overnight um in the hospital
1:08
like my girlfriend and one went home and
1:10
basically the next morning yeah they
1:12
basically said like yeah
1:13
we can confirm that it's leukemia and
1:17
that's like when like things just got
1:20
things just changed from that moment
1:23
when you're hearing all that at the age
1:25
i was only 22 and it was like it just
1:28
felt like a really bad dream that i was
1:29
gonna wake up from and
1:30
you know that was the reality of it
1:34
i went on to a teenage ward in leicester
1:37
and i started my treatment like two days
1:39
later it was quite difficult to sort of
1:43
what was going on i just had to take
1:44
each day as it came but they did manage
1:46
to get me into remission
1:49
when i was diagnosed they basically said
1:50
like oh you can't have kids naturally
1:53
from the moment you start chemotherapy
1:56
four weeks after i was diagnosed lauren
1:59
found out that she was eight weeks
2:01
obviously like there were so many
2:02
emotions i just didn't know what to
2:04
i was scared i was excited but at the
2:06
end of the day it was a blessing
2:07
you know i mean like someone had blessed
2:09
us and from that moment it gave me
2:11
something to like really
2:12
dig deep for and fight for you know what
2:14
i mean like i had a little baby come in
2:16
and i wanted to make sure that i was
2:17
going to be here for it
2:19
i ended up spending about six months in
2:21
hospital but then i could have breaks
2:23
i could come out for maybe a few days
2:25
like when i was well enough to
2:27
i remember going out to my mum's house
2:28
and i came back to the hospital after a
2:31
and then that night like i woke up with
2:32
like a 40 degree temp and it didn't
2:34
budge for about five or six days so i
2:36
ended up having to go on to the
2:38
and i was on there for seven days and
2:40
like the doctor who had been looking
2:41
after me basically said like if you
2:43
fit and healthy like you were then you
2:45
wouldn't have came out of it
2:48
i just had to be fine like an inner
2:50
strength do you know what i mean to sort
2:51
of call me through really bad days
2:53
and because there was a lot of them
2:55
immensely like i tested me but
2:57
ultimately after coming out like i just
2:59
feel like such a stronger person
3:03
i did switch up my diet in terms of like
3:05
i was eating less meat
3:06
less dairy products and from that moment
3:08
i've just been a lot more
3:10
cautious as to what i'm putting in my
3:11
body because i didn't drink i didn't
3:15
this whole experience has just made me
3:18
think to myself like maybe that's what
3:23
obviously my protein intake became a lot
3:26
and so i replaced that with like protein
3:30
especially with getting back into the
3:31
gym and trying to get back
3:33
into sport and football i feel like now
3:37
i'm at a stage where i'm i'm not close
3:40
you know like the level that i was at
3:43
certainly feel like i can get there
3:46
when i was going through all of this
3:49
to get back into football it got bigger
3:52
it was like i wanted to prove to myself
3:54
that i could come out from this
3:56
and get back to sort of where i was
3:58
there was like a little pedal bike on
4:00
in the hospital like room and beyond
4:02
that like just trying to keep my heart
4:05
like i'd be doing press-ups even when i
4:07
had like a pic line in my arm and
4:09
just little things to sort of keep me
4:10
going do you know what i mean and then
4:12
you need to have the urge and the you
4:15
know the mental strength to get to
4:16
that place pushing the boundaries really
4:19
it's a challenge to me i want to prove
4:21
to myself and to others that
4:23
you know you can go through something
4:24
bad but still like if you've got
4:25
mentality and strength
4:27
like you can get back to wherever you
4:32
i think that feeling of putting on a
4:35
on the pitch like after what i've been
4:36
through i think it will just be a moment
4:38
that i've sort of dreamt about
4:40
that i can envision quite a lot if i can
4:43
i think i'll be so happy having my
4:45
family there seeing me come on and
4:47
i'm pretty sure that i'll get to it at
4:48
some point it's just a case of when
4:50
really do you know what i mean
4:52
taking each day as it comes really
4:54
you're not planning too much ahead just
4:57
enjoying the moments that we're in
