A BALA TOWN Football Club physiotherapist has been handed an award for her role in helping to discover a player had a form of cancer at an early stage.
The Lakesiders’ midfielder Daniel Gosset was diagnosed with B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in August 2016.
Bala Town FC physio Ffiona Evans had encouraged Gosset to go and have further tests taken after he had been suffering from an unusual pain in his left leg which, despite weeks of rest, was not going away.
He was then referred to the specialist bone unit at Gobowen, for further scans and a biopsy, resulting in the diagnosis of B-cell Non Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Speaking at the time, the 26-year-old said Ffiona’s encouragement led to his eventual diagnosis, which he was given the’ all-clear’ from at the start of this year.
This week, Ffiona (below) has been rewarded for the role she played in helping the player recover.
PICTURE: Ffion Evans with her Unsung Hero prize. PICTURE: Sgorio/S4C.
JD Cymru Premier officials have given her the 2019/20 ‘Unsung Hero’ prize in recognition of her efforts.
Speaking to S4C football programme Sgorio after being handed the award, Ffiona said she ‘ was not expecting it at all’.
She added: “Everything happened so quickly really, I remember Danny coming to me at the very beginning, saying he’d been having a niggle in his hip since awhile and I could see that things weren’t improving.
“So within three weeks, we brought him in for a scan and it became a real whirlwind of emotion, we really weren’t expecting to get those results back”.
Gosset (above), who has just signed a new contract at Maes Tegid following his battle with cancer, said: “I knew something wasn’t right but without Ffi and her contacts and without the knowledge she has as a physio, I wouldn’t like to guess where I would have ended up.
“She managed to get a scan for me very early on and I know that I’ve been very lucky. I’m very grateful to her and to Bala as well. I’m looking forward to working with her again on the rehab work to get back to fitness. I have so much to give back to her for what’s she’s done”.
Gosset, who missed the whole of Bala Town’s JD Cymru Premier season last year due to his battle, could make an emotional return to the pitch early on in 2020/21 if things go to plan.
Bala Town manager Colin Caton hailed Gosset’s journey so far as a ‘great story’.
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