Joe Thompson: You can't walk this road alone

Those are the words of Joe Thompson, who reveals in a candid interview with Zarah Connolly that he has been diagnosed with cancer for a third time.

Joe came through the United Academy in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and has remained part of our family every since, featuring on MUTV regularly after retiring from football in 2019.

Sitting down with Zarah, whom he was worked with on countless occasions, Joe conducts a passionate, moving interview, smiling through the adversity he is currently facing.

“I've been diagnosed with cancer for the third time,” he begins.

“It’s far from ideal but I know that the support is here from the club. My family are imperative in my life and they are constantly helping me at the moment.

“I feel like once I have voiced it and got it off my chest, I don’t feel as suffocated as I felt. Obviously, bringing it to the football audience I am hoping that the support will be there as it has been not once, but twice before.”

Joe, 35, was first diagnosed with cancer in November 2013, when he was playing for Tranmere Rovers. Having beaten the disease for the first time, his cancer returned in March 2017.

Two months later, Joe got the all clear, and has long advocated for raising awareness and the importance of regularly checking yourself.

“I don’t think you could walk this road alone," he says.

“There are constant reminders and from the support you get, there are positive stories, so I feel morally obliged to be one of those that do that. 

“Raising awareness is key. We know that cancer is on the rise across the world, but for me this time, because it is the third time, I really want to find the root cause of why.”

According to Cancer Research UK, nearly one in two people in the UK will get cancer during their lifetime. Regularly checking your body increases the chances of identifying it at an early stage.

“I have always said that having those checks and doing them yourself, having a feel around, is important,” adds Joe.

“But I was just in the bath with the baby, and I literally came down with the water and noticed a little lump in the lymph node in my neck. First-time round I noticed quite a large mass in the same area but on the left-hand side.

“Second-time round I was totally caught off-guard. I was playing football, flying, feeling fit and it popped up on a scan and it was a tumour next to my heart.

“But this one has gotten progressively worse and it’s got onto my lungs so my breathing is affected, my sleep is affected. My speech. But it has gotten better over the last three or four weeks. I couldn’t have done this interview with you three or four weeks ago. Lots of coughing, lots of short breaths and I would get out of breath talking.”

Then Zarah asks Joe about his wife and daughters, and the emotion floods over him.

“They are everything,” he says, close to tears.

“They are why I wake up. Going through what I have been through, I know how important they are, and I also know how tough it is for those guys.

“I often say the one that is there next to you is probably the one that is suffering the most because they are seeing you. They are witnessing you go through certain things.

“We always say we are not unbreakable, but we are healable, so we just keep doing our best. There are a few arguments from time to time because everyone is frustrated and feeling it, but it wouldn’t be a family if that wasn’t the case.”

“I have been in regular contact with the club,” he adds, having come through United's Academy between 1998 and 2005.

“They have offered things that they might be able to help me with during my protocol and hopefully after, in the rehab phase. People don’t know the power of the message or a voicenote, or a phone call. It doesn’t have to be long, but we have got to a point where it has got really tough, and it is a bit of a cry or a call for the cavalry.”

“The cavalry is right here,” responds Zarah. “There are so many people that will do anything to help you.”

Despite playing for Rochdale and Tranmere, among other teams, Joe sees professional football as only a part of his identity, prioritising being a good man over everything else.

“If I can find a root cause then, wow, that becomes a real legacy piece for me,” he says.

“I never wanted to be known as a great or a good footballer. That was always a part of my life. But if you ask me, do I want to be known as a great man? Now we are talking.

“It’s about finding a test that is accurate enough for the root cause and I am like the guinea pig. If we get it right with me, it will get rolled out to more and it will be developed and there will be trials. If we get that, we have really opened up a huge key for not only me, but more importantly, people all around the world. 

“I am always looking at the next generation, so it’s huge and it is going to mean that we need to raise some funds. If we get that sorted and nailed, we are on to something huge.”

Manchester United is a family club; you never stop being a Red.

“You have fought it before and you will fight it again,” concludes Zarah. “I hope you have that in your head every day that we are all here for you.”

We are all rooting for you, Joe.

To learn more about Joe's story, and to donate, visit his Go Fund Me Page. 

You can also follow and leave messages of support for Joe on his official Instagram and X (Twitter) pages.