Chris Kamara has revealed that putting off getting checked by doctors has left him feeling guilty amid his health battle over the past few years.
The popular Sky Sports presenter bravely admitted that he had been battling a rare neurological disorder apraxia of speech earlier this year, something that had affected his ability to do a vast array of things. As a result, he decided to take a step back from his TV work.
Reflecting on his battle, Kamara - a former Portsmouth, Brentford and Swindon Town footballer - admitted that he wished he had sought medical help sooner than he did, having first noticed a problem in 2020. Speaking in an interview with The Sun ahead of the release of his own emotional documentary Chris Kamara: Lost for Words, he said: “The doctor said if I’d gone in those first two or three months and had my thyroid checked then I might have been OK.
“But because I left it, everything happening in the body — the balance, the muscle weakening — came from the fact I didn’t tell anybody. I feel I’ve let my wife and family down by being a dinosaur and not getting checked out.”
Kamara has been left full of regret by his decision to hide his worries, something that affected relationships with his own family and friends. He continued: “I stupidly kept it to myself, or at least tried to.
"At home I’d speak in sound bites and instead of starting conversations, I’d just be a small part of them and get away with one or two word answers.”
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Kamara's official diagnosis was not made common knowledge until March - the former Sky Sports presenter eventually penning a brave and emotional statement. Before that, he had been a regular feature on televisions around the country since 1998. Speaking about the decision to take a step back, he said: “I thought I needed to walk away from TV before I ruined my legacy, which I was starting to do.
"My voice was my work and I was so recognisable through it. Suddenly, I hadn’t got it any more and that was so hard to take.
“After 25 years of broadcasting I took my voice for granted and so when it sounds like somebody else or it’s slurring or not there at all, it’s not just embarrassing, it’s mind-blowing.”
Kamara is thankfully on the road to recovery and has suggested things only started improving as soon as he first accepted the reality of his condition.
“Accepting my condition was very hard, but my therapist said the day I admitted it would be the first day of my recovery," Kamara continued. "He was dead right.
“It was the best thing I could have done.”
