I’VE BEEN TO HULL AND BACK
Angus Macdonald on his battle with cancer ... but now I’m fitter and better than ever
Neil Moxley
ANGUS MACDONALD beat cancer – so battling through life in lockdown was a breeze.
Hull City’s defender resumed his career last week in a gritty Championship relegation battle with Charlton Athletic.
Despite the defeat, the 27-year-old relished every single second of it.
It was last October that he was told colitis – a stomach condition he had battled against since the age of 15 – had turned into bowel cancer.
Macdonald emerged from that bombshell, only to walk straight into another crisis. This time, he was in the coronavirus ‘vulnerable’ category.
He said: “Looking back now over the past eight or nine months, it feels surreal. Almost like it hasn’t happened to me.
Suffered
“I had suffered with colitis since I was 15. It’s a dreadful condition for anyone – let alone a professional footballer.
“I was going to the toilet I don’t know how many times per day. I would be planning breaks carefully if I drove long distances.
“Pre-game was tough. Everyone gets pre-game nerves, but for me it was ridiculous. I’d lose so much water I was dehydrated.
“Nutrition was key for me... but whether I’d eat badly or well, nothing would work. It was going too far.
“I was very low in iron and undergoing tests for that. I had to have a random biopsy and it came back
Winchester 27
Defender 6ft 3in
Hull City
193
12
flagging up cancer. Hearing the word wasn’t something I had ever prepared myself for.
“It left me numb. I was in a very dark place for a few days. I’d pushed it to one side. I carried on with life.
“I was told by the doctors that they had it early, but there was no guarantee I would play again. I had a couple of weeks to get my head around it.
“Luckily, my first operation was a success. It got rid of all the cancer in my bowel. I didn’t have to have chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
“I had to wait another nine weeks for a second operation in December and I returned to the club in the second week of January. I was in remission. I got the all-clear.”
Macdonald took it slowly. He had built up his strength and fitness, playing in one under-23 game before coronavirus struck.
He said: “Just before lockdown I was ready to play again.
“At first, we were told we’d have one week off. Then it 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.
“I was in the ‘vulnerable’ category, but because I hadn’t had any chemotherapy, technically I wasn’t too vulnerable, if that makes sense.
“I was fit and 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.
Blessing
“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 draws to a close. To any prospective employers, he said: “They should not worry about my physical state – they are getting a 27-year-old with a 25-year-old’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 – and nothing is going to hold me back.”