Former Carlisle United footballer Joe Thompson has revealed he’s been diagnosed with cancer for a third time.
The 35-year-old was first told he had Hodgkin lymphoma in 2013 and after treatment he recovered.
He had been a Tranmere player at the time but was released and after he was able to resume playing he had a loan spell with Rochdale before joining Bury.
A former Manchester United youth player he had signed for Rochdale in 2006 and over the next seven seasons clocked-up 143 appearances with 15 goals.
After a summer trial he joined Carlisle United in 2015 and made his debut against Cambridge United and playing 75 minutes before being substituted, in a 4–4 draw.
In a follow–up match, Thompson scored his first goal for the club, in a 4–1 loss against Plymouth Argyle but found his playing time was mostly coming from the substitute bench.
Even so Thompson signed a contract extension with the club until the end of the 2015–16 season and by the end of that campaign had made 17 appearances with one goal in all competitions.
Reflecting at the time Thompson said: “I ended up playing about 15-20 games during that season, which wasn’t much, but it was progress at least from what I had been playing after my diagnosis.”
“He was released at the end of the season and made a third return to Rochdale where he played 32 more times.
The cancer returned in 2017 but once again it appeared as though the popular midfielder had beaten it. He retired in 2019 and from football he turned his talents to public speaking.
However, Thompson has now revealed he has now been diagnosed for a third time with Hodgkin lymphoma.
Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, he explained how the “aggressive” lymphoma is already at stage four.
It has also spread to his lungs, making it difficult to breathe and sleep.
And although it “hurts” to get another diagnosis, Thompson has vowed to battle against it and win again.
He said on Radio Manchester: “It’s far from ideal and it’s come back quite aggressive, so stage four.
“The only positive is it is the same cancer as what I’ve had previously, but the issue for me this time is its gone on to my lungs, so breathing is a problem, sleeping is difficult and even talking sometimes can be quite hard.
“You’ve only got a certain amount of time on this earth. I always think you want to make the biggest impact you can possibly do on so many lives as possible.
“That’s where I’m at so I’ve got to lead from the front. I’m going to need cavalry and I’m ready for them to rise up and we’ll just get through it again, and then we look at the future.”
