Matthew Bell has written a new book called 'Second Chances' which charts his brain tumour ordeal, recovery and return to hockey
"In June 2019 I made my 100th cap for Ireland, and within a couple of months I was lying in a hospital bed and needed a wheelchair to move."The Waringstown man was just 26 when an MRI scan in Germany discovered a tumour the size of three golf balls in his mid-brain.The date was Friday, September 13, 2019.
Matthew had to learn how to eat, walk and talk again, with neurosurgeons uncertain of how full a recovery he would have. "I then went on a tour to France with the Irish squad and the symptoms stopped, so I told my Mum to cancel the appointment. The rest of that summer I suffered a loss of form on the hockey pitch.
"So I have a lot to be thankful for, especially with my club in Germany and the surgeon who performed the surgery. I was very thankful.""Yeah, five in six weeks. The first operation was seven hours in a seated position. "In June 2019 I made my 100th cap for Ireland, and within a couple of months I was lying in a hospital bed and needed a wheelchair to move. When I told my Mum and Dad about coming over to Germany, I told them to pack for a week.
"When I came home, the consultant neurosurgeon told my parents he couldn't predict what the future held. The wonderful NHS staff, physios, speech and language therapists they worked with me over a few weeks. "He removed 90 per cent of the tumour. He couldn't touch the last 10 per cent, as he could have ended up paralysing me, or worse.So you had to learn how to walk again, eat again and speak again?
"Since before birth, it was a slow growing brain tumour which usually shows itself between 16-19 years. Because I was so fit and healthy being a professional hockey player, it didn't show until it did. "It wasn't until a year to the date of the diagnosis that I went with Dad to the hockey pitches at Banbridge, and I ran unaided for the first time. I ran one length before stopping to catch my breath, and then I did another length.
"I always had aspirations of playing for Banbridge First XI and Ireland again, but it took a long time to realise I will never get back to that level. That was hard to take, but I have slowly come to terms with that. In your head, you probably still think like an elite sportsperson, but physically things have changed. But considering what you have been through, does it put sport into perspective?
"In my head, I was thinking I will be back and I want to play in the Olympics. That was a lifelong dream for me. "I messaged her and she sent me a book out, and I read it within two days. That made me want to start documenting my recovery.
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