Former Cardiff and Swansea footballer Jason Bowen has promised to fight "as much as I possibly can" after being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.
Bowen, 50, went public with his devastating diagnosis earlier this month. He has admitted it was "terrible" when he told his wife Hayley and three boys the "heart-breaking" news but has pledged to stay "as positive as I can" throughout his battle with the illness.
MND, which is also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is a degenerative neurological disease that causes the progressive loss of motor skills. Bowen, who was diagnosed with the disease in March 2021, was given "three to five years" to live.
Bowen has opened up on his illness in an interview with The Cardiffian, a Welsh news website produced by trainee journalists at Cardiff University. The former Premier League star said: "The doctor just came out and gave it me [the diagnosis] straight."
Bowen has been with Hayley, 49, for more than 30 years and they have three children together: Jaye, 27, Sam, 22, and Theo, 14. Hayley said the diagnosis was "just awful" and "hard to understand" - but insists she is "by his side" "whenever he needs help".
Bowen enjoyed a long career as a professional footballer. The former Wales international, who won two senior caps, played more than 500 league games and represented Swansea, Cardiff, Southampton, Reading, Newport County, Llanelli and Birmingham City.
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"I’m just trying to stay as positive as I can. I’m taking care of my health and doing what I can," said Bowen. "In physio they say, ‘Use it until you lose it’ so that’s what I’m trying to do."
This is not the first time Bowen's family has been rocked by MND. Hayley's mother Beryl suffered with the disease during Bowen's playing career and was cared for before she died aged 64. MND is a rare disease, which makes the "double whammy" hard to take.
Hayley, who has described Bowen as "really strong", has admitted she doesn't sleep some nights and spends hours looking at research to help her stricken husband. She added, "Losing my mum was heart-breaking... but when it's your husband, it's on a different level."
Bowen is doing well considering his diagnosis but is worried about the future. He added, "I don’t want to see what’s coming... I don’t want to see people in wheelchairs or people who can’t talk. I don’t want to see that. I want to stay in a positive mindset."
Bowen had admitted the hardest aspect of his illness was telling his children, as Theo was just 12 when his dad received the tough news. The ex-footballer has been overwhelmed by the support his family have received since he went public earlier this month.
It costs approximately £1,200-a-month for Bowen's physio, hydrotherapy and supplements. The family have set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for his treatment, with more than £13,000 raised so far.
Bowen added, "It really has blown me away and I just want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart. It means so much to me and my family so we can keep doing these things to keep me fit and here as long as we can."
