5 footballers who beat cancer
Recently, ex-Manchester United and Celtic footballer, Liam Miller was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is undergoing treatment in the United States.
Fans from around the world rallied in support of the player and wished him a speedy recovery, including the likes of Joe Thompon, John Hartson, José María Buljubasich and Germán Burgos to name a few football personalities, who have all also beaten various forms of the deadly disease.
Here we look at the 5 more players who battled various forms of the terrible disease, cancer, beat the disease and return to the game of football:
#5 Eric Abidal
Eric Abidal embodies the word 'fighter'. The former French defender, one of the most highly rated fullbacks to come out of France in the last decade was diagnosed with liver cancer in March 2011 and had to undergo an array of treatments to regain match fitness.
Later that season, Barcelona went on to beat Manchester United at Wembley in the final and as a lovely gesture to mark his recovery, Carles Puyol passed on the trophy to Abidal, who lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy after a tumultuous couple of years.
Abidal's fight for recovery was a long, arduous process that involved a liver transplant after the failure of the first operation. After which, the player stepped back out onto the field to continue his career.
While Abidal sat out the start of the next campaign still continuing his recovery, his Barcelona career was coming to an end, with the club not offering the player an extension. In 2013, Abidal signed for Monaco and quickly won back his place at the heart of the defence in Didier Deschamps’ French side before retiring.