Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MICKEY THOMAS I’m happy to be here because my life was in the balance... Sir Alex told me ‘you’re a tough boy, you’ll beat this,’ and that was just magical
FORMER UNITED, CHELSEA, WREXHAM AND WALES WINGER ON HIS BRAVE BATTLE AGAINST CANCER
MICKEY THOMAS trembles, his voice breaks and he wipes away a tear as he talks of the moment he was told he could die.
The former Manchester United and Wales winger has come through a gruelling twoyear battle with stomach cancer and recalling the ordeal proves emotional.
“I’m shaking because going back over what happened really scares me,” said Thomas. “I’m just happy to be here, with what I’ve been through.
“My life was in the balance. I’m made up, because with the initial diagnosis, they didn’t give me much hope.
“I was told with the operation I needed, only 30 per cent survived it. But I had to have it otherwise I wouldn’t be here.” On a trip to Bangkok with United in early 2019, Thomas was unable to keep food down and was told by Bryan Robson – who had been through throat cancer – to see a doctor on his return home.
“I could tell by the faces of the consultants that something was up,” recalled Thomas.
“They said, ‘We couldn’t even get the camera down you because you have a very, very large tumour.’
“They said, ‘It doesn’t look very good.’ I was on my own and I was shaking. I said, ‘How long have I got?’ and the doctor said, ‘I don’t know, but we have to get you in straight away.’
“My life changed from that moment. I was really scared, I thought I was going to die. I collapsed because I was in shock.
“As I drove to the hospital that day, I looked back along the coast where I lived and thought, ‘Am I coming back’?” Although the six-hour operation was a success, weeks later Thomas, 66, was back in hospital after contracting sepsis, again wondering if he would come home.
He said: “I was losing weight, I wasn’t strong and I lay there many times, wondering if I was going to make it.
“What I saw when I walked into that hospital changed my life. It’s with me every day.
“I’ve been a footballer, played all over the world, had a great lifestyle and never thought about that side of life. Then you walk into that hospital and it’s the real world – people are dying. Women with no hair, young kids who are going to die, it’s terrible.
“Until you see first-hand, what it does to people and families, you don’t know. It destroys them.”
Thomas, who played over 100 times for United after signing from Wrexham, has a scan later this month where he hopes to receive the all-clear but admits he is already anxious about the outcome.
“This is the big one,” he said. “I’m nervous about whether it’s going to be clear or if it’s come back. They said they can’t guarantee that, so we’ll see.”
We meet at Rhos-on-sea golf club in North Wales, where Thomas plays off an 18 handicap.
He normally plays twice a week, the catharsis of the course clearly having aided his recovery and will do so even more now lockdown has lifted.
Support from the football community also boosted him, from the likes of Joey Jones, Kevin Ratcliffe and Peter Reid – but none more so than a surprise call from Sir Alex Ferguson.
“I missed his call initially,” he said. “Next thing I know, I’ve got a voice message off Sir Alex, which I couldn’t believe.
“When we eventually spoke he said, ‘You’re a tough boy, you’ll beat this’ and that was a magical call, from one of the greatest managers of all time.
“I was walking on the beach recently and a young woman came up to me and said, ‘You’re an inspiration, my mum’s got cancer but we follow you and you’re so positive.’
“That meant a lot. I thought, ‘At least I’m helping other people’ – which is a great thing to be able to say.”
THOMAS WAS ONE OF THE HEROES OF WREXHAM’S AMAZING UNFORGETTABLE GIANT-KILLING FA CUP WIN OVER ARSENAL IN 1992