The winger is back in Argentina receiving treatment after having his left testicle removed.
Sad news from the world of football tonight regarding Argentinian Jonas Gutierrez. The international, who was in his country’s 2010 World Cup squad, had been a notable absentee from the Newcastle set up in recent months and now he has told Argentinian TV why he has been away.
In quotes translated by the Mirror, the winger says:
“I detected a tumour in a testicle. I came here (back to Argentina) and I assumed the costs, despite having a contract with Newcastle.
“Money is not important. What is important is health and I had to start chemotherapy.
“It was hard to find my hair falling out. I did not want to cut it. I wanted to hold on.
“Fighting cancer makes the rest of the problems are insignificant. I decided to tell my story because maybe is will help people who have cancer.”
The paper says that the club knew of his illness for over a year but maintained a silence for privacy reasons.
Gutierrez barely played for the Magpies last season before a loan spell at Norwich also saw him rarely take the field,
The 31-year-old goes on to say that: “I removed the left testicle. I returned to England and Newcastle told me to leave.”
This screengrab from the interview with TyC Sports shows the impact the treatment has had on Gutierrez.
We wish Jonas all the best in his recovery and we hope to see him back on the pitch real soon.
If you have any concerns about testicular cancer, check out this link here.
