Brain op for soccer star Tony Cascarino
Ex-ireland striker will go under knife after working at World Cup
FORMER Ireland soccer star Tony Cascarino has revealed he will have surgery to remove a benign brain tumour.
The 55-year-old will go under the knife after the World Cup to get a golf ball-sized lump taken out.
He admitted to initially ignoring symptoms before seeing a doctor and finding out the news.
The dad of three said: “I was sent for an MRI scan and waited for the results.
“From the start I was told it was probably an acoustic neuroma, the same as Debbie [his partner’s sister], a benign tumour that can be very small and grow very slowly.
“You can have them for years without knowing it. Mine is about the size of a golf ball, which is alarming when you think about it, but the benign bit was a huge weight off my shoulders and in that respect
I’m very lucky.”
Cascarino scored 19 goals in 88 appearances for the Boys in Green and played a huge role in Jack Charlton’s sides that made the Euro 1988 finals and the World Cups of 1990 and 1994.
After retiring in
2000, he became a semi-pro poker player and has lately worked as a TV pundit.
The English-born striker will be covering the World Cup in Russia over the coming weeks before his surgery. Writing in the Times, he added: “After the World Cup I’ll be having surgery and my rehabilitation could last for a couple of months, so I’ll be disappearing for a while.”
Cascarino ignored early signs and has urged others to see their doctors if sensing something is amiss. He revealed: “I woke up one morning about 18 months ago and was conscious of a hissing noise... shhhhhh inside my left ear, like the distant sound of waves in a seashell.
“I was suddenly aware I’d been aware of it for a while and never quite recognised it.
“It was tinnitus, I knew that, but I also knew it didn’t hurt so I did what blokes like me tend to do, the thing our dads and grandads did. I ignored it.
“My roles with The Times and Talksport give me a platform to say please, don’t be like me.
“In similar circumstances get yourself checked.”