The 31-year-old was diagnosed with blood cancer as a teenager but recovered and has gone on to enjoy a top level career.
He couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. He’d locked himself in to avoid waking a team-mate who was asleep. The pain was acute. At first it was his shoulder but it had now travelled to his hip. He was 16-years-old, 9000 miles from home and alone. Why was he in so much agony? All he wanted to do was play football but his body wouldn’t let him.
The Hibernian midfielder sometimes wonders if he could have done more in the game. Then he has to remind himself that he might not have been here at all. For him to represent the clubs he’s played for – as well as earn 15 caps for his country – is nothing short of incredible. And that’s why now, at 31, he’s just savouring every moment of life at Easter Road. His illness and the ordeal his family faced 15 years ago will never define Jeggo.
“And gradually, we knew it was something more serious. At that age, you don’t really think of anything on a big scale. But one of the things they were really concerned about was bone cancer. They sent tests to the US and when they came back, we were told it was leukaemia. People ask how I coped with it. And I think if it was 10 years later, I would have struggled a lot more. I’d have had a greater awareness of what it all meant. At that age, ignorance was bliss.
“I went into hospital on Boxing Day 2008. That Christmas wasn’t the best one I have ever had. I had five treatments. There’s always a chance with leukaemia that once they blast it, if it doesn’t work your only option is a bone marrow transplant. And that’s hit and miss. It either works or you’re in real trouble.
Jeggo probably didn’t realise it at the time. But while he was fighting to try and become a footballer, he was also influencing and motivating young Luc to do the same. While Jimmy has played in Austria, Belgium, Greece and now Scotland, Luc is playing semi-pro back in Australia. Jeggo said: “For my brother, it was a tough time that naturally gets lost.Get all the latest Sports news sent straight to your Inbox every day by signing up to our newsletter.
“We probably became closer through that period when I was sick. He was only 14 and we’ve had discussions about it since then. What I was going through was the main thing in our parents’ lives. Luc probably kept a lot of stuff in. The way he remembers it is that he felt a little bit guilty. Even at 14, he felt he wasn’t there for me.
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