CANCER SHOCK:
EL-ISSA VOWS TO WIN BIGGEST FIGHT
LIVEWIRE jockey Bobby El-Issa has vowed to beat a rare form of leukaemia that led him to being rushed into treatment this week.
El-Issa, 38, had chemotherapy for the first time on Wednesday and will continue to receive treatment for the next month in hospital.
“I have no option but to try to beat it and I will,” the Brisbane jockey said from his hospital bed yesterday.
“It’s just a random thing. It picks anyone but I have my family by my side and I am going to be as positive as I possibly can.’’
El-Issa has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow.
The Leukaemia Foundation said AML was characterised by an overproduction of immature white blood cells, which crowd the bone marrow, preventing it from making normal blood cells.
Due to their immaturity, they are unable to function properly to prevent or fight infection. Inadequate numbers of red cells and platelets being made by the marrow cause anaemia, and easy bleeding and/or bruising.
Each year in Australia around 900 people are diagnosed with AML, which accounts for just 0.8 per cent of all cancers diagnosed.
“I have been crook for a couple of weeks and the funniest part about it is that I’ve been riding winners,” El-Issa said. “I was getting home and it was just hitting me like a ton of bricks. My immune system is usually very good, so I knew something was up.
“I went to the doctor’s last Monday and they sent me straight to hospital.’’
El-Issa, who is father to five-year-old Isabella, rode Groomed For Glory to victory at Rockhampton last Saturday and was second in the $100,000 Cup on Casino Benjo.
Chris Munce, who beat cancer two years ago, has been in regular contact with El-Issa in recent days.
“It’s just something that came out of the blue and he has to knuckle down now for a tough road ahead,” Munce said. “It’s going to be very hard but he’s a pretty tough rooster and he has youth on his side.”
El-Issa told friends of his illness by Facebook just before receiving chemotherapy for the first time.
“God only gives us what we can handle and he’s got a big fight with me on his hands,” he wrote.