Featured Image Credit: This Morning
Topics: Football, ITV, This Morning, Sport, Health, Mental Health, Twitter, Social Media
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Football, ITV, This Morning, Sport, Health, Mental Health, Twitter, Social Media
People are flocking to social media in support of Chris Kamara after the football player opened up about his speech condition on This Morning.
Ahead of the release of his documentary programme, Chris Kamara: Lost for Words, set for release at 9pm today (13 December), the professional footballer appeared on This Morning to discuss his diagnosis with a speech condition called Apraxia of Speech (AOS).
Apraxia of Speech is 'is a speech disorder in which a person has trouble pronouncing words correctly and consistently, e.g. one day a person may be able to say "television" easily but another day may struggle and not be able to say it at all,' according to the NHS.
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The NHS continues: "The difficulty is not due to weakness or paralysis of the speech muscles (the muscles of the face, tongue, and lips). The severity of speech dyspraxia can range from mild to severe."
During his appearance on the ITV chat show, Kamara explained: "The message from the brain to the mouth somehow gets confused and the words come out wrong or they come out slow or they don't come out at all.
"My voice was my life, you know?
"So that was hard. Hard to accept."
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Kamara noted his trouble accepting his diagnosis was also why he 'kept it quiet,' didn't tell anyone and 'continued doing programmes'.
However, when people began tweeting him asking if he was OK - some even accusing him of having been drinking prior to being on screen - that's when he eventually realised he had to address his diagnosis and 'spill the beans'.
Fans of the player, presenter and football analyst have since flooded to Twitter to praise Kamara's honesty and openness in discussing his journey since being diagnosed.
One Twitter user said: "Huge respect for Chris Kamara letting everyone know about his speech problem on TV this morning.
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"I could see it wasn't easy, but it will make a difference to so many suffering from the same or similar problem, look forward to the next time we meet, and yourself on full recovery."
"What a beautiful friendship #ChrisKamara & #BenShephard share’ Chris so very well done in helping raise awareness for those that struggle with a speech condition #ThisMorning," another wrote.
A third added: "Watching Chris Kamara on #ThisMorning. Absolutely deserving of the title of national treasure.
"Always comes across very genuine and a flipping good laugh. Wishing him all the best going forward."
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A final resolved: "Was absolutely amazing watching you, on This Morning. Think you’re doing marvellous and what a champ you are.
"Really miss watching you on Final Score. Best wishes xxx."