Carlton star Sam Docherty reveals he was ‘terrified’ when he finally left hospital after beating cancer for a second time – but not because he was worried about the disease returning
Docherty has battled cancer twice
Says he was terrified of getting Covid
Wants to raise awareness for sick kids
Carlton star Sam Docherty has revealed what really made him ‘terrified’ after beating cancer for a second time – and it wasn’t fear of the killer disease recurring.
The inspirational Blues leader was diagnosed with stage 2 testicular cancer in 2020, and after returning to the field the following year was then told the cancer had come back.
Heartbreakingly, it had spread to his lymph nodes, lungs, and stomach after he was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer, leading to 12 weeks in hospital for intensive chemotherapy.
He has always retained his sunny and inspirational outlook and is one of the most popular players in the locker room at Princes Park.
But Docherty, whose first child with wife Natalie was born in January, revealed that he was ‘terrified’ when leaving hospital after his long stint of chemotherapy because he feared Covid could strike when his body’s immune system was at its lowest.
‘We were just coming out of Covid years, [and] I was terrified coming out of hospital going back into the world knowing that my immune system was low and the risk that had on me if I was in contact with Covid,’ he said on Fox Footy’s AFL360 on Tuesday night.
‘All those families [who have someone in hospital with cancer] have had that fear for the last three or four years where they’ve obviously got their child that’s going through a really tough time, but then if they get some chances to go outside, they’ve also got Covid [concerns].
‘If an immunocompromised child gets Covid, that could have been the end.’
That sunny outlook aside, which has inspired many in the footy world – sometimes battling with cancer is just damn tough.
Docherty said hospital always tested the mental strength of those who had to spend extended periods in them.
‘They’re tough places to be. Anyone that’s been hospital, as much as you try and talk yourself into the food being any good, the food’s rough, you’re staring at the four walls but you don’t want to leave,’ he said.
Docherty and his Blues teammates, who sit third on the ladder after an unbeaten start to the season (albeit with a draw included), are set to face off against the Kangaroos for their traditional Good Friday clash.
It coincides with the iconic Good Friday appeal for the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, with both sides visiting sick youngsters in the lead-up while raising awareness and funds for kids and their families who are battling with cancer.
Docherty appeared alongside another cancer sufferer, Kangaroos star Ben Cunnington to put a smile on a few faces on Monday and said now he is a parent himself, he feels the struggles of families who have children in the hospital.
