Kamara opened up on his ongoing battle
Chris Kamara left viewers in tears after he shared a heartbreaking update on his ongoing health battle.
The
Soccer Saturday legend suffers from Apraxia of Speech and on Thursday morning spoke to ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
Apraxia of Speech is a speech sound disorder and is defined by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) as “a neurological disorder that affects the brain pathways involved in planning the sequence of movements involved in producing speech”.
Kamara, who also played professionally for the likes of Brentford, Stoke and Leeds admitted that he was initially “in denial” about his diagnosis.
https://twitter.com/GMB/status/1722536396890484760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1722536396890484760%7Ctwgr%5Ee419dcb253003ead476f54e0584f68a05723bef0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2Fviewers-in-tears-as-chris-kamara-shares-heartbreaking-health-update-412166
Viewers in tears as Chris Kamara shares ‘heartbreaking’ health update.
Opening up on the illness, he told the
ITV news programme: “I went to see a brain specialist and I was only in there for two minutes and he said, ‘You’ve got Apraxia of Speech’, where the connection between the brain and mouth breaks down and you can’t say the words.
“Your mouth can’t control itself. The words come out very slowly.
“I thought that defined me. So my apologies to everyone out there with a speech condition, because it doesn’t define who you are.”
Kamara then began to tear up after admitting that he was “ashamed he couldn’t speak”.
“I get upset talking about it, because I was in denial,” he added.
[caption id="attachment_785705" align="alignnone" width="594"]
Chris Kamara poses after being made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to football, charity and anti-racism, in 2023. (Photo by Andrew Matthews-Pool/Getty Images)[/caption]
Viewers watching were left visibly emotional by the 65-year-old’s comments.
One user said: “Well that set the tears off! Kammy what an absolute diamond…
“Kammy you legend. Set me off and there is nothing to be shamed about,” said a second.
“Such an emotional interview. You’re doing amazing Kammy!” wrote a third.
https://twitter.com/GMB/status/1722546753994440916
Earlier this year, Kamara announced he would step away from his duties on Sky Sports after 25 years with the broadcasters.
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