If you’ve seen any of Aberdeen’s last half a dozen games then you’ll have noticed that Angus MacDonald is a born winner, not a man who takes no for an answer. A warrior by inclination, nothing can keep this good man down, whether the challenge comes on the field, or off it as the central defender explains…

“I started off in the Reading Academy, I was there for 10 years, got released, dropped down the levels after a couple of trials didn’t really work out and I ended up signing up for Salisbury. They went into administration! I’d been on loan to Torquay when I was at Reading, so I made the call myself, “Any chance I can come down and play?” I ended up spending three years on the English Riviera, which I ended up loving.

“I get offered a move to Barnsley in the Championship and it was like coming here, it was a no brainer, I had to go, and it worked out. I played 41 games in the Championship that season. In the January after that, I moved to Hull City and it was another step in the right direction. I’ve always wanted to play at the top level, to challenge myself. But while I was there, I fell ill, I was diagnosed with bowel cancer at 26.”

With April being Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, an annual event set aside to increase awareness of bowel cancer and raise funds towards treating this condition, what better time to talk about his illness, so triumphantly overcome, in more detail?

“Before the diagnosis, I actually had a blood clot that got picked up. I went through an investigation and testing as to why I had a blood clot in my leg, and also why I was having these strange symptoms. I did not know what they were. After one of the tests, I was called straight back in the next day, so I knew something was up because normally you have to wait two weeks to get the results back.

“I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

“I was sat in the room with just me and a doctor and he broke the news that I had bowel cancer. It was a dark day. It was tough. If I’d known that was going to be the outcome, I certainly wouldn’t have gone alone.

“I just remember hearing the word cancer and then switching off. I honestly can’t remember what else he said. Everything just went numb and I was sitting in a dark room, absolutely stunned. That’s the nature of the word cancer. Everyone relates it to bad outcomes and that was my first thought, ‘Am I going to live, am I going to survive?’ That was a really scary moment in my life.

“I had issues before. Going way back to when I was 15, I had a blood clot in my lung, and that is when my colitis and inflammation of my stomach and my bowel started. The doctor actually told me that I would never play football again. Once the lung recovered, I never told anyone because of that one comment. When someone tells you that you are not able to do the one thing you love doing, and what you always dreamt of doing, I hid it from everyone when I had symptoms when I was older. I had no idea the extent of what would happen by hiding it, the symptoms leading to bowel cancer.

“I remember leaving the hospital after a couple of hours and a lot of tears. Another doctor took me for a coffee and tried to reassure me as much as possible. After I had left, I had to drive down south and I was in the car for four hours. That was when I started to process it all. I pulled into a service station at one point and sat and stared into the distance, not really able to comprehend what had just happened. It was a really lonely time. I didn’t want to feel a burden to anyone. I didn’t want to tell anyone, I didn’t want to tell my mum and dad because I knew how worried they would be. They have played a massive part in my career. I also have three sisters and they have all had to make sacrifices to help me get to where I am today.

“The first three or four days I completely shut off from the world and tried to deal with it on my own – which was not a good thing. Once I did start opening up with others I did feel better. The hardest part of the whole journey was definitely telling my family. But by then, I was thinking I was going to get through it. Once I spoke to the doctors and a few more medical people, it really encouraged me that the operation would go ok and hopefully I could get back to playing football. It really did help speaking to more people and getting that encouragement from, people who were specialists. They were very reassuring, that I had caught it early and I should be absolutely fine afterwards.

“I know everyone says there are more important things in life that playing football, but the most important thing in my life was football. I knew I would be healthier after the operation and my mindset was more about getting back and playing – that was my aim, that was my goal.

“I took myself away and went on holiday and turned my phone off. It was when I was away that the news broke and when I turned my phone on, there were hundreds of messages, which were nice to read through. There were so many people supporting me but knowing the first operation was around the corner, I did turn off from football completely. At that stage, I was just thinking about getting over that first hurdle and then I could look to see what was next.

“I got the all clear a few weeks after the operation. Everything had been cut out and the cancer had not spread to my lymph nodes or anywhere else. Three and a half years down the line, I am now back playing football, back doing what I love doing, and this is the healthiest I have ever been my whole life.

“I never thought at 26 and a professional footballer I would have been hit with the word cancer and diagnosed with bowel cancer. It was a bomb shell. That just goes to show that it can happen to anyone. It can affect people of all ages.

“Looking back, I could have done things differently. I tried all different types of diets to keep the symptoms down. I went gluten free. I cut out fizzy drinks and caffeine and sugar, but nothing helped. However, I would still not tell anyone. If I hadn’t had that blood clot in my leg, I wouldn’t have taken the tests I needed to do to find the bowel cancer. The blood clot ultimately saved my life because I would probably have carried on ignoring the symptoms and it would have been too late.

“Now, I would say to anyone with symptoms, get checked as soon as possible. I know it is a cliché, but if I had left it any later my journey would not have been as simple. It would not have been just two operations without any chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Quite simply, I might not be here, so my message would be go and get checked as soon as possible. You should not be worried, there is plenty of support around you, from your loved ones and from people at cancer charities.”

In the wake of his fight against cancer and the full recovery that he made, Angus set up his own charity – the Angus MacDonald Foundation in 2020 to raise awareness and highlight the importance of early diagnosis, especially to younger people under the age of 30 with bowel cancer and other cancers.

“When I was lying in bed after the first operation, I was in there for ten days so you have a lot of time to sit and think and stare at four walls. I’m lucky, I have a bigger platform than most people to try and hit a bigger target audience, so I felt that I really could make a difference and try and help as many people as possible. It would also hopefully help those who had been diagnosed and make their journey a bit easier. It’s never easy, but I wanted to help as much as possible.

“As footballers we are in a very privileged position where we have platforms – whether that is followers on social media or fans who want to listen to you. So if we can did hit more of a target audience than most people, why not use that opportunity?”

To help spread the word and to help more and more people in need, Angus’ foundation is now partnered with Aberdeen based Clan Cancer Support, which was founded in 1983. The charity is there for anyone affected by a cancer diagnosis. They provide emotional and practical support to people affected by cancer, including the patient, their family, carers and friends. Their services are freely offered to all from pre-diagnosis and diagnosis through treatment and beyond at support and wellbeing centres located across the north-east, Moray, Orkney and Shetland.

“Support charities like Clan play such a significant role. They show that you’re not alone through a journey or treatment. You can go into places like Clan and have that support network. Even if it’s just to go and have a coffee and a chat, it makes a massive difference to people who are so low and probably cannot get any lower. People leave in a more positive frame of mind, they will probably be reassured, and have a bit of weight taken off their mind.

“It wasn’t until after I had come through my second operation that I realised that there was a charity to support me. I set up my foundation because I wanted to help and get in touch with as many people as possible. Now, everywhere I move as a player, it is important for me and for the foundation that I dip into the local community and try and help.

“Not everyone knows there are places like Clan. Being at the Sheffield hospital as much as I was, I would liked to have come out of there and gone into somewhere where there was a nice environment, instead of sitting in a waiting room waiting for hours. Hopefully I can help create awareness of the work that Clan are doing and get the message out that there are people here to help you. People don’t always realise that the support is out there for them.

“I felt coming into Clan was very open and very relaxed. There are great things going on there. It is a great building with brilliant facilities. That helps because sometimes you are sat in a waiting room in a hospital and they are not always the nicest places to be. Going into the Clan building for the first time, it was a breath of fresh air. They also have hotel facilities for people who are travelling a long way. I haven’t seen that in other places that I have been before, it’s a brilliant option.

“We have some things coming up this month, as it is bowel cancer awareness month and I am going to work closely with Clan. They have been fantastic in supporting me as well. I would like to get stuck in as much as possible and help others. Young people do not want to speak about what symptoms they have. I want to try and help make it not all doom and gloom.”

As well as forging links with Clan, Angus has been busily embedding himself in Granite City life. “I am really enjoying living in Aberdeen. Switching off mentally from training and games is important because it is so intense when you are involved in it. I’m lucky I have got my partner’s and my dogs up here. I have been lost in Balmedie dunes about six times whilst taking the dogs for a walk!

“It’s been a good couple of months here so far. The fans have been fantastic since I first set foot in the club. I can’t praise them highly enough and I want to thank them for the support they have given me, as well as the team. When you look back, I feel like the Dundee United game was a turning point. We had a difficult start that night, but the fans got right behind us. They made the difference.

“It is a great dressing room. There are some great characters in there. Jonny Hayes is a great lad. I came in the other morning and Joe Lewis was shaving his hair off! It is not always the case where you come into the dressing room that there are no bad eggs. You don’t get that a lot in football. It is refreshing when you come into a group and everyone gets on well with each other.

“Obviously I’m close to Mattie Pollock. We both got chucked into the deep end for the game against St Mirren. The team were conceding goals, so it was important that we stopped that. It was about getting back to basics. We both came in at the same time and sat down and had a conversation. I knew what I wanted from Mattie and what Mattie wanted from me.

“Our partnership has grown in confidence since then. Mattie wants to go and win everything in the air, so I am quite happy to cover him! We work well on the pitch and it also helps that we have a very good relationship off the pitch as well. You want to do well for each other. This is probably the best partnership I have had. The key to it is having an understanding of what Mattie does well and him having an understanding of what my strengths are.

“It’s a fantastic club and a great place to go to work every day. Whether it is the first team, the U18s, the backroom staff, everyone gets on well together. Barry and Steve have done a great job lifting things, building up the confidence within the squad and creating a really good environment. Now that we know Barry is in charge for the rest of the season, it gives us a nice bit of stability going into a vital period. Seasons just come and go so quickly and you have to have an aim, an end goal and Europe is definitely what we’re aiming for.”

Clan’s Bowel Cancer Awareness Event, where Angus will be one of the guest speakers, will take place at Clan House, 120 Westburn Road Aberdeen at 2.30pm on Thursday, April 20, 2023. For more information please click on the link https://www.clancancersupport.org/news/afc-player-to-work-with-clan/