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, Angus talked about his illness, so triumphantly overcome, in the hope that he can help others.

“Before the diagnosis, I actually had a blood clot that got picked up. After all that happened I when through an investigation and testing as to why I had a blood clot in my leg, why I was having these strange symptoms. I was going in for regular appointments because at the time I was dealing with colitis as well. It was the third or fourth time when they checked me, and 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 of 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 thinking anything. 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 probably 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 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 could have looked after my diet better. 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. 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 be here, so my message would be go and get checked as soon as possible.

Angus partnered with Clan Cancer Support in 2023 to raise awareness about bowel cancer and the importance of seeking medical advice if things don’t seem right.

Staff and volunteers from the charity were present at last Saturday’s match, along with representatives from NHS Grampian’s Colorectal Team, to provide support to anyone who is worried about a diagnosis and to share information about a Bowel Cancer Awareness event taking place at Clan House on April 27.

The event aims to inform and support anyone who is worried about symptoms, those living with bowel cancer and anyone currently supporting someone with a diagnosis.

Guests will also hear from NHS Grampian’s colorectal team with information about symptoms, medical treatment and practical advice on stoma care.

Attendees will also be invited to take part in a Q&A session enabling them to get more information from healthcare professionals and Clan’s services team.

Angus added: “Support charities like Clan play such an important 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.”

Clan provide emotional and physical support to people affected by cancer, 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 of Scotland and Northern Isles. Angus fully recognises the importance of such charities.

“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.”

Clan’s Bowel Cancer Awareness event will take place from 10am – 12pm on Saturday, April 27 at Clan House Aberdeen.

Registration is required for this event. To register please complete an online form by scanning the QR code in last Saturday’s Red Matchday programme, click on the link here or call 01224 647000.

For more information please visit: clancancersupport.org