Being told I had cancer left me numb... but beating it is biggest win of my life

happened to me. 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’d be planning breaks carefully if I drove long distances.

“Pre-game... was tough. Everyone gets pre-game nervous, but for me it was ridiculous.

“I’d lose so much water. I was dehydrated. Nutrition was key for me. Whether I’d eat badly, 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 flagging u p 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 Covid-19 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.

“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.”