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Ex-Manchester United star Mickey Thomas describes the fight of his life

It was two weeks ago in the hospital that Mickey Thomas briefly considered admitting. Perhaps, after six months of cancer treatment, this was his time.

& # 39; I was lying in bed with even more needles and more threads and just thought I might not have any more. This time I was terrified that I would not come home, & Thomas admitted Friday.

& # 39; It was an infection, but when you had cancer, the infections were really dangerous. But here I am. I'm not cured for life – nobody can ever say that – but I have a chance, don't I? & # 39;

Here he indeed sits on a sofa in his smart apartment with a balcony overlooking the beach in Rhos-on-Sea in his beloved North Wales. It's a bad day, not one for a walk.

Mickey Thomas, 65, had bad days and good days in the fight against esophageal cancer

But this weekend – when the sun is out – Thomas can be there for a while and feel the sun on his face and a sea breeze on his back. By the end of the weeks of postoperative chemotherapy for esophageal cancer that might have killed him, former Wales, Manchester United and Chelsea are again cautiously looking ahead to the future.

I walked to the stores the other day and thought it was great, he smiled. & # 39; The fresh air, the sounds. For me it is everything. But it's day after day. I feel good with you here, but yesterday I was so wiped out that I was in bed for 24 hours.

The former Man United man arrives at the end of weeks of postoperative chemo

& # 39; They say the chemo can save me, but sometimes when it feels like it is killing me. It is so traumatic. But I know I have to get it done. I want to live so much. & # 39;

It was during dinner with Bryan Robson during a United visit to Bangkok earlier this year that Thomas realized it was time to take control of his own well-being.

& # 39; I had not been right for a year and he could not have eaten well & # 39; because I couldn't swallow, & Thomas recalled, having worked for United's own TV station in his last years.

& # 39; Robbo has had throat cancer and watched me struggle in this restaurant and said: & # 39; You need to figure this out & # 39 ;. It was the way he looked at me. I thought: & # 39; He's right. I do it.

& # 39; My doctor had told me so many times that I was fine. I'd get blood tests and tablets and things. But Robbo really made me think.

& # 39; So back home, two friends – Mike and Shaun Walsh – paid me to go private and have me checked. My old teammate Joey Jones – still my best friend – drove me in and went home. We were not that worried. Then the doctors said they hadn't even put the camera down my throat because the blockage was so big.

& # 39; The exact words were: & # 39; It is a very large tumor. This doesn't look good to you & # 39 ;. I panicked and asked how long I had been away. They said they didn't know. & # 39;

Shortly thereafter, upon hearing further details of his diagnosis, Thomas fainted in the consulting rooms of Wrexham & # 39; s North Wales Upper Gastro unit. At the age of 65 he was desperately ill and had to undergo surgery almost immediately.

During his career, Thomas was a FA Cup second with Manchester United in 1979

& I felt like I was in death row when I walked into the theater, & # 39; he said. & # 39; I had eight teeth on Thursday before Monday surgery, because there was an infection that could have caused a problem. That was an easy decision. I really didn't care what I looked like, I just wanted them to save my life. & # 39;

Thomas was operated on for six hours in May. Fortunately, Andrew Baker was able to handle the entire tumor. Subsequent scans revealed in the spread and currently Thomas is free from the disease.

& # 39; They said they cannot guarantee that it will not return, & # 39; he said. & # 39; But the good news is that the last chemo will be a week next Friday. People say I look the same, but I don't feel the same and probably never will.

& # 39; When they said it was life threatening, I just didn't know what to do. But football people have helped me so much. I really didn't know that I was so loved.

I was a bit of a boy, didn't I? I said things that got me into trouble. I did strange things, I was stubborn. But the reaction was great. Oh my god, it bent me over.

& # 39; People such as Robbie Fowler, John Hartson, Denis Irwin, Peter Reid, Sharpey (Graeme Sharp), Robbo, Rushy (Ian Rush), Kevin Ratcliffe, Lou Macari and then a missed call and a SMS from Sir Alex Ferguson.

& # 39; Fergie told me that I was strong and that I could beat cancer. My god, that was like a medicine in itself when I read that. & # 39;

Thomas was a wasp-like, creative, instinctive football player. His career was somewhat nomadic, winding from Wrexham to United, Everton, Stoke City, Chelsea and beyond, and he now admits that he reflected a restless, nervous personality.

Thomas imagined that he was his famous FA Cup goal scored while Wrexham defeated Arsenal in 1992

Thomas is just as popular in Manchester for his colorful story as his football. Personally he has always been very sympathetic, but for those who wanted to watch, he has always appeared rather vulnerable.

& # 39; Your life swirls around your head when you think it's about to end and I'm thinking of mine, & he said. & # 39; When I was a kid, I couldn't read or spell. I was too scared to walk into a room on my own.

& # 39; As a soccer player, people always saw the stubborn Mickey Thomas, but it was a front. At United I would not go to the dressing room of the first team. I would be there at half past eight, putting on my gear and sitting in the sauna and waiting. After the training I would wait for them all to go home and then change.

& # 39; At my medical service I was naked and thought: & # 39; Why do they want me? & # 39; I felt intimidated and it was because I was uneducated, stood on a schoolyard in Colwyn Bay and was sent to a hut for & # 39; thickos & # 39 ;.

& # 39; Even there, they just put me on a table. I'm not joking. They would just leave me alone. But they all wanted to be my friend on the schoolyard, right? Yes, I could always play football. But without that ball, I was nothing. & # 39;

In Chelsea in the mid-1980s, Thomas did not earn enough to actually live in London. So why would you come to them?

& # 39; I liked the kit, & # 39; he said with only half a smile. & # 39; Joey (Jones) was there too and we both lived in North Wales. So we drove back and forth every day.

& I stayed on a Friday for a game and sometimes slept in the referee's room at Stamford Bridge. He walked into the room before the game and I walked outside.

We stayed in a homeless hotel a few times. Ten pounds a night. F ***** g terrible.

& # 39; You sweep your feet away, not the way in. I don't know how we qualified for that. Maybe it was the way we dressed!

& # 39; Joey and I have a message on the program a few times asking if anyone wanted to spend the night with us. You think I'm joking. I'm not that. & # 39;

Thomas spent eighteen months in prison in the early 18th century after being convicted of money laundering. He has always maintained his innocence, but he has never damaged his chatter after dinner.

& # 39; When a policeman stopped me for speeding, he said it didn't make sense to give me a fine, who would really want my money? he smiled.

& # 39; But look, the prison is a stigma that always stays with me. I was in Walton in Liverpool – not great as a former Man Utd player – but I was OK. I had to try to show confidence to make sure I wasn't bullied.

& # 39; I learned how to do it and that helped me a lot in life when I came out.

Thomas later played for Chelsea, although he had a hard time to afford living in London

& They were all soccer fans inside and that helped too. I had played for so many clubs that I was popular with almost all clubs … & # 39;

Last Sunday, Thomas was back in Old Trafford for the United game against Chelsea. The club sat down at his house and drove him back when he started to leave with 20 minutes to go.

United continued to pay him during his illness and executive vice chairman Ed Woodward has written and kept in touch. He has also heard of Chelsea and Stoke City.

& # 39; The club has been great, & # 39; he said. "People don't see that side of them, but Man Utd sticks to me, even if doctors didn't know they could save me from being overwhelming."

A father of two and a proud grandfather, Thomas also admits that he loves his own company. However, that has its disadvantages.

He is still worried in the early days of his recovery and why should he not?

I prayed most nights, maybe a walk if I can, he said. & # 39; But the chemo exhausts you. You cannot escape it.

& # 39; When it's over, I'll try to return to the same person I was before. But I doubt it. It will always remain in the back of my mind what has happened to me. Every time I feel a little pain, I worry what it is.

& # 39; Do You Know? When I entered that hospital in Wrexham earlier this year, I realized what the real world was.

& # 39; I had been so lucky and it was terribly scary to go into that area. The children in there for example. God, you just want to help them. & # 39;

With that in mind, Thomas has a decision to make the next two weeks. Six months ago he would have done everything he could to have promised this dilemma, but it still disturbed him.

& # 39; If you are cancer free and finish your chemo, they want you to ring a bell in the neighborhood when you leave, & he said.

& # 39; They say it must empower other patients and show that you can survive.

& # 39; I am a Catholic and when this is over, I am thankful that you let me live. But they want me to ring the bell and I don't want that, if I'm honest.

& # 39; What about the people who will never touch it? How will they feel when I do it? I'm worried about them. I really don't know what to do. & # 39;

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