Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Being told I had cancer left me numb... but beating it is biggest win of my life
happened to me. I had suffered Hearing the word wasn’t with colitis since I was 15. It’s a something I had ever prepared dreadful condition for anyone myself for.
– let alone a professional “It left me numb. I was in a footballer. very dark place for a few days. “I was going to the toilet I I’d pushed it to one side. I don’t know how many times carried on with life. per day. I’d be planning breaks “I was told by the doctors carefully if I drove long that they had it early, but there distances. was no guarantee I would play “Pre-game... was tough. again. I had a couple of weeks Everyone gets pre-game to get my head around it. nervous, but for me “Luckily, my first operation it was ridiculous. was a success. It got rid of all “I’d lose so much the cancer in my bowel. I didn’t water. I was have to have chemotherapy or dehydrated. Nutrition radiotherapy. was key for me. Whether “I had to wait another nine I’d eat badly, well – weeks for a second operation in nothing would work. It December and I returned to the was going too far. club in the second week of “I was very low January. I was in remission. I in iron and undergoing got the all-clear.” tests for that. MacDonald took it slowly. He I had to have a had built up his strength and random biopsy fitness, playing in one Under-23 and it game before Covid-19 struck. came He said: “Just before lockdown back I was ready to play again. flagging “At first, we were told we’d u p have one week off. Then it cancer. became, two, three... six, eight. “But I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to use this time positively.’ People ask how cancer has changed me and I do find myself looking at situations like that. I can see the positives in pretty much anything now.
“So I wasn’t just sitting around, wondering when it was that we might play again.
“And although I was in the ‘vulnerable’ category, but because I hadn’t had chemotherapy, technically, I wasn’t ‘too vulnerable’ – if that makes any sense.
“I was fit, healthy.
There was no sign of infection or cancer. I never classed myself as ‘high-risk,’ although there was an element of risk – but then that’s the same for everyone.
“But I did my own shopping – I had to, there was no one else who was going to do it for me. So, I’ve got my head down – and to play last week was a blessing.” MacDonald does not know what the future holds. He is out of contract whenever this season ends. To any prospective employers, he said: “They should not worry about my physical state – they are getting a 27-year-old with a 25-yearold’s body.
“I’ve not played for two years, but I feel miles better. I’m the fittest I’ve ever been. The future is down to me... to work hard.
“Some of the coaching staff at Hull – who have been brilliant, by the way – have said they don’t know how I’ve got here. Everything happens for a reason. I wished I was normal when I was 16 or 17. “But I’ve got a story to tell now. “I’ve come out the other side. Nothing is going to hold me back.”