some of amount of goals vs the huns as well -
Former Wales, Arsenal and Celtic striker John Hartson, who is battling cancer, has undergone emergency neurosurgery on his brain.
Doctors have confirmed that the cancer which had already spread to his brain, has now been found in his lungs.
The 34-year-old, capped by Wales 51 times, was diagnosed at the weekend.
He was transferred to Morriston Hospital in Swansea from Singleton Hospital in the city and is in a critical condition after his surgery.
T
he former footballer underwent emergency neurosurgery to relieve pressure on his brain, a statement from the hospital trust said.
“He is currently being cared for by the critical care team at Morriston and is receiving round-the-clock care aiming to stabilise his condition,” the statement said.
“He will resume radiotherapy and chemotherapy as soon as possible.”
Hartson was first diagnosed with testicular cancer on Sunday and admitted to Singleton Hospital in Swansea where further tests were carried out.
The father-of-three retired from a glittering career in football in February 2008 and has since worked as a pundit.
His family issued a statement on Wednesday saying that all his close family and friends “are continuing to support John in any way we can”.
“He is receiving outstanding care from all the medical and surgical staff and we would like to thank everyone at both Singleton and Morriston, as well as the excellent ambulance staff,” the family said.
“We have been overwhelmed by the support and goodwill from many thousands of football fans, players, clubs and sporting figures and we have drawn strength from this support.”
The family also requested that the star’s privacy, and that of his family, is respected as he continues his hospital treatment.
Officials at Arsenal have said the club is “deeply saddened” by news of his cancer.
The former centre forward joined Arsenal as a teenager from Luton in January 1995 and, in two seasons at Highbury, made 62 appearances, scoring 16 goals.
The player left Arsenal for West Ham United in February 1997 and continued his career with the Hammers, Wimbledon, Coventry City, Celtic, West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City.
“Everyone at Arsenal Football Club would like to take this opportunity to wish John, together with his family and friends, all the very best in the challenging times that lie ahead. Our thoughts are with you,” the statement added.
During his international career, he scored 14 goals before stepping down in February 2006 to concentrate on his club football.
Hartson made his Wales debut in March 1995 in an away match against Bulgaria, often leading the line as a lone striker, until his last game in November 2005 against Cyprus.
Not looking good for him. Hope he can recover.
This is really crap news.
That Lance Armstrong cheat has offered his support to BBJ:
http://twitter.com/lancearmstronG
My thoughts go out to John Hartson. Livestrong, John! We’re pulling for you! Folks, hold him in your thoughts and prayers please.
[quote=“Bandage”]This is really crap news.
That Lance Armstrong cheat has offered his support to BBJ:
http://twitter.com/lancearmstronG[/QUOTE]
No fan of Lance but at least he’s living proof that you can beat this horrible disease
I hope BBJ has the heart for the fight because that’s what will keep him alive
Keep Fighting BBJ
Update from a Celtic supporter friend of Hartson’s - it’s more positive:
I haven’t seen any news so I don’t know how much has been reported… Got a text from my friend this morning who was on his way to the hospital, said that BBJ had been rushed to neuro surgery unit for an emergency operation late last night, the op was a success and had eased the pressure that had been building up the past ten days… He was making a slow but good recovery from the op, breathing without the help of the ventilator and the cancer found in his lungs were only small lesions and not a massive concern…
They are convinced that with the faith and prayers of the Celtic fans that John Hartson can make a full recovery, we should all stay positive and please, if you have any faith at all, pray for Big Johnny - he’s an absolute gent, who loves the Celts and he’d do anything for anyone… Please, please pray for him… Things are looking better.
Also, go check your balls - there’s male nudity in this one as an extra treat:
Hartson sat up and spoke to his family tonight apparently. He’s been sedated for the last 12 days what with the operation and the treatment that commenced as soon as he was strong enough after it. Seems to be off the immediate danger list but has a big battle ahead of him all the same. Good news though.
[quote=“Bandage”]Hartson sat up and spoke to his family tonight apparently. He’s been sedated for the last 12 days what with the operation and the treatment that commenced as soon as he was strong enough after it. Seems to be off the immediate danger list but has a big battle ahead of him all the same. Good news though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqK30w-iH04
[/QUOTE]
:guns:
Hartson leaves hospital
Tuesday, 11 August 2009 16:48
Former international footballer John Hartson was released home today from the hospital where he was undergoing cancer treatment.
The ex-Arsenal and Celtic striker had been in the care of the cancer team at Singleton Hospital, in Swansea, after being transferred there from the critical care unit.
A statement from Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University NHS Trust said: ‘John Hartson has completed the first phase of his chemotherapy treatment and has been discharged from hospital.
He will now continue his chemotherapy treatment as an outpatient of the hospital.’
His family said in a statement: 'The family would like to thank all the staff at Morriston and Singleton hospitals for their support in getting John to this stage in his treatment.
'John is glad to be back with his family, and ready to face the next steps in his chemotherapy. It goes without saying that the support of friends and the public has been a huge lift to us all over the last few weeks.
‘As John’s cancer treatment is ongoing, we hope that the public and media will continue to respect his privacy.’
Hartson, 34, spoke on Friday for the first time since he was admitted to hospital to thank well-wishers for their support, saying: ‘I’m feeling well at the moment.’
He has been diagnosed with testicular cancer that has spread to his brain. Hartson was admitted to hospital in his home city of Swansea last month where he underwent emergency surgery and it was discovered the cancer had spread to his lungs.’
Super stuff - his missus found out she was pregnant while he was in hospital too. 
Hartson is winning his battle
betdiary-
John Hartson paid a visit to Ireland last July as the guest of honour at the annual Association of Irish Celtic Supporters Clubs dinner in Citywest Hotel in Saggart.
As the event was sponsored by the Irish Daily Star, I had behind-the-scenes access at the banquet and had the pleasure of talking with the former Bhoys and Wales striker.
Hartson came across as a man who hated to be idle. His media work kept him busy last year as he regularly made the commute from his family home in Swansea to Scotland, where he worked as Setanta Sports SPL expert.
However the demise of Setantas UK branch had Hartson openly questioning the direction in which he wanted to take his life.
He had coaching ambitions and had completed his UEFA A Badge earlier in the summer.
He even saw himself kicking off a career in management on this side of the water saying in an interview with the Star: This is not a come and get me plea, but what I would say is I have all my badges, Ive worked hard over the last two or three years and I am willing to knuckle down.
Of course the League of Ireland would appeal to me.
I know I am going to have to start somewhere whether thats the League of Ireland, the Championship, League One or League Two, or the Welsh Premier League.
Im confident I will get an opportunity its just choosing the right one. The club has to be right for myself.
Little did the gentle giant know that fate would take him in a different direction.
The news that Hartson had been diagnosed with testicular cancer just a week later was difficult to accept for those men and women who met their hero at Citywest last July.
It was impossible to reconcile the energetic and bubbly man who, seven days earlier, bounced around the room posing for hundreds of photographs and signing even more autographs with the dreaded C word.
Even more so when it emerged that the cancer had spread to his brain and his lungs and that doctors at one stage were giving him a 50/50 chance of surviving.
Happily the 34-year-old looks to be on the road to recovery. He had a scan last Monday and is anxiously awaiting the results, but he said today in an interview with BBC: Within myself, my own body language, Im feeling good.
He revealed his ambition to pay a visit to cycling legend Lance Armstrong, who recovered from testicular cancer, and thank him for his support.
And the atmosphere of hope surrounding Hartson will provide a timely fillip for Ireland and Cardiff City midfielder Stephen McPhail, who last weekend was diagnosed with cancer stage one MALT lymphoma.
Fortunately for McPhail the illness has been caught at a very early point and expectations are that he will be back on the pitch in January.
While Hartson is not yet in the clear things are looking much more positive for a real gentleman.
As guest of honour at the AICSC dinner he was in his element. He smiled broadly as some of his goals for Celtic were played on a loop on giant screens around the room and was thrilled to get down from the top-table and mingle with his adoring fans.
Obviously at this stage its one of the least pressing concerns for Hartson, but perhaps one day they will get to see him close-up again as manager of Shamrock Rovers, Swansea or even his beloved Celtic.
The news today that John Hartson feels he is on the road to recovery will bring a smile to many faces.
They showed him in the crowd at a Swansea game a month or so back. The effects of the brain damage seemed fairly obvious but hopefully he gets back to full health.
Good to see Hartson doing well these days
I BROKE my heart in that hospital car park,” John Hartson says, his eyes shining as he remembers the moment in Swansea, last July, when he first confronted the reality of cancer. “It was just an ordinary day outside but in my car, on my own, I was crying my eyes out. My doctor had sent me to hospital and they made the diagnosis. I finally got round to phoning Sarah, my girlfriend, who’s now my wife, and told her the news. She started crying too and it was horrendous. Something I had long suspected had suddenly come true. I had cancer.”
In a plush hotel on Park Lane in London, the cocktail music continues to tinkle and the soft lights gleam on the deep dents that scar Hartson’s hairless scalp after extensive brain surgery. Despite his despair last summer the former Wales international footballer stresses that he was not shocked. “I actually knew it would be cancer,” he murmurs. “I had this feeling in my gut.”
It is tempting to believe Hartson’s instinct lasted just a few weeks or, at worst, months. He shakes his head. “I had a lump on my testicles for around four years and so I had this picture in my head. It was of me walking into a doctor’s room, or a hospital, and them telling me exactly what I heard in Swansea. I foresaw it.”
Did fear prevent Hartson from visiting a doctor for so long?
“No, it was just me being stupid, and boyish, and not mature enough to face it. I hoped it would just disappear. But the lump got larger.”
It also spread, catastrophically, to his lungs and brain. An hour after he heard the diagnosis of stage-four cancer, Hartson began to suffer from “a blinding headache. It went on for days and nothing could stop the pain. I felt so bad I asked my sister to take me to hospital. The cancer was right on top of me then and the next six weeks were a blur.”
The breath at the back of Hartson’s throat is rasping now but he speaks powerfully.
“I had to be moved to the neurology unit and, funnily enough, it’s now in Cardiff. But last summer it was still in Swansea and so I got lucky. It was only a 10-minute ambulance journey. They tell me that if I’d had to travel to Cardiff I wouldn’t be here now. I had two brain operations and was in intensive care. I got pneumonia and I apparently stopped breathing at one stage. But they brought me back and I had pipes and tubes coming out of me, connected to a ventilator. For a month they were just trying to keep me alive rather than tackle the cancer.”
When Hartson was strong enough he was subjected to intense chemotherapy. “I had 67 sessions over three months. Your body is zapped and I lost five stone in weight. Thankfully, my appetite came back and I’ve put half a stone back since then.”
As “bald as a coot”, and with Sarah almost eight months pregnant, Hartson married in secret a few weeks ago. “It was just us with my cousin and his new wife. We got married on the same day and we wanted to keep it secret but, in the story of my life, the Sunday Mirror got wind of it. It’s not how you want your family to find out. But we had our reasons. The plan is to have a big bash and renew our vows again in July. But because of the baby and all these operations I’m facing we wanted to get married now. Someone got a few quid for stitching us up.”
Hartson has, slowly, rebuilt his ravaged life. Last weekend he was a pundit on Football Focus for the BBC and an analyst for ITV during Stoke City’s defeat of Arsenal in the FA Cup. The Sunday before that he was a special guest on Radio 5 Live’s 606 – revealing a calm dignity that is rarely associated with a phone-in show.
In addressing the brutal way in which cancer took hold of him Hartson draws a stark link between his carefree but essentially thoughtless footballing days and the ignorance that allowed his illness to develop. Years ago, as the most expensive teenager in British football, he played for Arsenal alongside Ian Wright. The ginger-haired Welsh hulk, sold by Luton Town for £2.5 million 15 years ago this very month, was one of George Graham’s last signings for the club.
Six months later Graham was found to have accepted a bung and was banished from Highbury’s marble halls. Hartson featured briefly under Arsene Wenger, but he soon moved to West Ham in a team including the young Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard and the more infamous Julian Dicks. He seems to belong to that lost, less glamorous era of football personified by Graham and Dicks.
Hartson won 51 caps for Wales but he was often derided during fleeting stints at Wimbledon, Coventry, Norwich and West Brom.
Yet he made a significant impression at West Ham and, of course, Celtic, where he scored more than a 100 goals alongside Henrik Larsson. He developed a rapport with the passionate fans of Upton Park and Parkhead and he was the Player of the Year in Scotland in 2005.
“People just thought, ‘John Hartson – that big bleeding hard nut from Swansea.’ But I let myself down,” he says. “The Eyal Berkovic incident really blighted my career. It’s something I deeply regret.”
Even now, amid our consuming talk of chemotherapy and surgery, of cancer and death, Hartson shudders at the thought of what he did to his former team-mate at West Ham. After the talented Israeli midfielder struck him on the leg in training, Hartson booted Berkovic full in the face. It was a sickening sight, caught on camera, and Hartson is still mortified.
“Eyal is a terrific fella and he made a lot of my goals at West Ham. I get asked about it all the time, even though it happened 12 years ago. But when you do something that thuggish you rightly get a reputation. I then joined Wimbledon and that added to the thuggish image. But I come from a wonderful family. My parents have been married 30 years. I have a brother in the police force, a sister who is a hairdresser and another who is a solicitor’s secretary. I’ve now got a fantastic wife with three children of my own – and a fourth due in early March. I’ve got a big heart. But when you do something that vicious you carry a reputation.”
On Tuesday week the much more mature and generous Hartson will endure his next operation. He tries, admirably, to remain upbeat in describing yet another ordeal. “There is some activity on the lungs that needs to be addressed. The first operation is the big one. It’s a six-hour op on the one lung and I’ll be in hospital a week. And then a month later they’ll do the other lung and in May they’ll do the next brain surgery. There’s no abnormal activity on the brain but they need to clean out the debris.
“It’s tough but I like to think I’m already over the worst. I’ve had some wonderful news about the cancer. It came at what I thought might be a horrendous meeting with my oncologist. You just don’t know what he’s going to tell you. But when we went in he was smiling. He told us that the cancer is all but gone and that the chemo had shrunk the tumours. When we heard that, the missus and I were crying and hugging each other in his office.”
The dangers obviously remain but the warmth people now feel towards Hartson is evident as we leave the hotel. He is stopped in the lobby by a polite couple who tell him earnestly how they admire his courage. And then, down a side street, he is hailed by a London taxi driver – an Arsenal fan who just wants to shake his hand and hear how he is coping. “I’m doing great, mate,” Hartson beams as he leans into the cab, takes the man’s hand and mixes a quick medical update with chitchat about Arsenal’s title chances.
Later, as we say goodbye, Hartson’s longing to live burns through him. “If I was 75 I wouldn’t mind so much. I’d say, ‘Take me.’ But I’m 34. My children are 10, seven and 17 months. My new baby girl is not even born. I want to see them all grow up. And things are good now. The work’s rolling in and, while I’m going to have to take a break for these operations, I’m getting lots of offers. I was with the kids in the pool the other day and I thought, ‘This is what I want. I want to live’.”
Hartson clears his throat and, looking up, he acknowledges another obvious but defining truth.
“Some of us are outspoken and do lots of stupid things. We can’t all be Michael Owen. It took me a long time but, finally, I’ve matured. It took a couple of marriages, four kids and illness, but I’ve grown up. I’ve now set up The John Hartson Foundation in the hope I can help other young men avoid the same mistakes. Ryan Giggs and Martin Johnson are trustees and I think we can make a difference. If I’d heard someone like me talking four years ago I would’ve gone to the doctor straight away.
“I’ve got a long way to go but I can face anything now. I’m not especially religious but I believe in God. I feel he has been looking after me. I had a great career and scored over 200 goals.
“And now I’m lucky enough to still be here. You need a bit of luck whatever you do in life – whether you’re going for a job interview or you’re just crossing the street. I’ve had that good luck a long time now. I just hope it continues.”
john hartson is 100% an allright sort and i wish him all the best.
That’s high praise from you Mickee given that he tried to decapitated a Jew. He certainly seems to be a much nicer bloke than his reputation on the pitch gave him credit for. He’ll always be the “fat man” to me. The only good but of punditry ever to come from Dunphy. Although he must also be lauded for the abuse of Jancker in the euros (or possibly world cup) a few years back.
John Hartson being interviwed in a moment on The Last Word on Today FM.