Chris Kamara has described the reaction of the general public to his diagnosis of speech apraxia as “wonderful,” but he asserts that his doctors are unable to predict whether or not he would progress over time.
The 64-year-old former footballer and Sky Sports analyst appeared to slur his words during the Soccer Saturday broadcast the previous weekend, which prompted viewers to send him direct messages on various social media platforms.
In a subsequent tweet, he provided an explanation, stating that he had a thyroid ailment and had also developed a speech handicap over time.
During an interview on Good Morning Britain, the former athlete expressed gratitude to his family and friends for their support and said that he was working with a speech therapist in an effort to overcome the issue.
Where Did Chris Kamara Go Wrong With That Speech?
Chris Kamara, a former football player who played for Leeds United and Bradford City, has revealed that he has volunteered to leave his new programme on ITV owing to recent health problems. Chris has just lately disclosed that he suffers from apraxia of speech, which is the reason why he is taking a sabbatical from Sky Sports and will be leaving on Saturday after having worked there for more than 20 years.
Kamara also stated that he intended to leave his most recent ITV programme, The Games, but TV execs convinced him to stay. Chris addressed his decision to leave the show during the premiere and thanked the ITV crew for pleading with him to stay. Chris also thanked the audience for their support.
The retired football player explained that there would be times when his speech would be difficult to understand and he would make little progress, but there would also be times when it would be normal.
Together with seasoned commentator Simon Brotherton, they will work on this project. They worked together on BBC Radio 5 Live back in the late 1990s, when he was just getting started in the broadcasting business.
After his audience saw that Kamara was slurring his words while he was speaking on TV the previous month, Kamara later said that his neurological condition made it difficult for him to talk. Aphasia is a condition that affects a person’s ability to communicate properly and is caused by trauma to the brain.
The illness that Chris Kamara suffers from is called apraxia of speech
The Speech and Language Therapy Department of the NHS defines apraxia as “difficulty in carrying out planned movements.” Apraxia is a neurological disorder that affects motor skills. An individual who has apraxia may be able to perform unplanned movements, such as yawning, but they may not be able to perform planned movements, such as opening their lips when they are instructed to do so.
Chris Kamara, a presenter on Soccer Saturday and a former footballer, revealed in March that he had “apraxia of speech” after viewers got concerned that he appeared to stumble his words during an appearance on the show. The 64-year-old man was a guest on the show.
The article goes on to say that speaking needs a complicated set of muscle movement patterns, and that apraxia of speech is believed to be caused by a malfunction in the part of the brain that is responsible for arranging these motions.
Chris Kamara, who has worked as a broadcaster for Sky Sports for the past 24 years, has announced that he would be leaving the company at the end of the football season in 2021/22.
According to Chris Kamara’s Twitter, what exactly happened to him, and where has he been?
Fans of Sky Sports took to the internet after the Sky Sports broadcaster appeared on Soccer Saturday to ask him questions about the appearance of slurring his words while he was speaking on camera.
According to what Kamara posted, he wanted a few of you who tweeted today to know that I’m doing fine and that he just wanted to let you know that. In addition to my thyroid illness, I also have apraxia of speech, and I’ve been working on getting it under control. I’ve been doing this for a while.
On certain days, it may move a little more slowly than usual, but on other days, it’s perfectly normal. I really hope I’m going to be able to win this! His initial tweet, which was sent on Saturday, March 19, has received over 160 thousand likes, 2,500 retweets, and 500 quote tweets since it was posted.
Many more people, including current and former athletes such as Viv Anderson, Steph Houghton, and Robert Snodgrass, have offered Kamara their support and words of encouragement through the medium of social media.
Sports Career
Kamara’s football career began when Portsmouth manager Ian St John noticed him playing for the Navy. After agreeing to pay the Navy a £200 buy-out price, St John signed Kamara on an apprentice contract in November 1974. Ray Crawford, the youth squad’s coach, told the Portsmouth News that Kamara was “poor in the air, his marking is wayward, and he hasn’t got much positional awareness,” but in a private conversation, Crawford revealed to Kamara that he had the potential to make the first team. In a 2-0 loss to Luton Town in August 1975, he made his first team debut. Mick Mellows’ knee injury gave him the opportunity. In the following game, he was assisted by Bobby McGuinness and scored his first senior goal in a 4-1 loss against Bolton Wanderers. As “Pompey” were demoted from the Second Division in last place during the 1975–76 season, he continued to play regular football at Fratton Park. In 1976–1977, the team narrowly averted relegation from the Third Division, and as a result, Jimmy Dickinson, the club’s new manager, traded Kamara to Third Division opponent Swindon Town for £14,000.
When he joined Swindon, Portsmouth fans sent him death threats, and police escorted him to the County Ground. Although Danny Williams, the team’s manager for the 1977–78 season, regularly left him out of the starting lineup, he scored on his debut against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. Bobby Smith, the team’s new manager, led the “Robins” to the League Cup semifinals in 1979–80 and within three points of promotion in 1978–79. After a disastrous start to the 1980–81 season, John Trollope took over as manager and sold Kamara back to Portsmouth for £50,000.
Frank Burrows, who had previously coached Kamara at Swindon, re-signed him to Portsmouth. He was, however, moved once more in October 1981 after Brentford manager Fred Callaghan approved a trade for David Crown to go the other way. Kamara was teamed with Terry Hurlock as a highly devoted centre midfield pairing at Griffin Park. He adapted well during the 1981–82 season, and in 1982–83, when Brentford had two top ten finishes, he achieved a career high with 11 goals. The team again struggled in 1983–84, just making it out of the Third Division relegation zone, and then improved in 1984–85, finishing 13th. He participated in a 3-1 loss to Wigan Athletic at Wembley in 1985, earning a Football League Trophy runners-up medal. After turning down manager Frank McLintock’s offer of a renewed one-year contract with the same terms, he made the decision to quit the team in the summer of 1985.
Despite having a damaged hamstring tendon, Kamara re-joined Swindon Town in August 1985 for a cost of £12,500. Although Kamara missed the first part of the season and only played 23 games, the “Robins” earned promotion out of the Fourth Division as champions in 1985–86 under the direction of Lou Macari. As Swindon defeated Gillingham in the play-offs to secure a second consecutive promotion, Kamara missed just four games during the 1986–87 campaign. He did, however, participate in both the home and away legs of the matchup. But after fracturing Shrewsbury Town player Jim Melrose’s cheekbone with a punch immediately following a game in the 1987–88 season, Kamara became the first English player to be found guilty of grievous bodily harm for an incident that occurred on the field. He was fined £1,200.
After deciding to decline Swindon’s offer of a one-year deal, Kamara moved on once more in the summer of 1988. Instead, he teamed up with Mick Mills at Stoke City. At the Victoria Ground, he shared a midfield position with Peter Beagrie. He had a successful 1988–1989 campaign, making 44 appearances and scoring five goals, earning player of the year honours. Frank McAvennie, a West Ham United player who needed surgery on his ankle after being involved in a challenge with Kamara on August 19, 1989, tried to sue Kamara for damages but was unsuccessful. Midway through the 1989–1990 campaign, Alan Ball took over for Mills, and he immediately sold Kamara to Leeds United. He turned down the chance to play for Middlesbrough, the club owned by his childhood friend Steve Gibson and run by Bruce Rioch, by choosing Leeds instead.
David Batty, Vinnie Jones, Gordon Strachan, and Gary Speed were all present at Elland Road; as a result of the presence of these talented midfielders, Howard Wilkinson routinely benched Kamara.
Kamara assisted Leeds in winning the Second Division title in 1989–1990, but after suffering an Achilles tendon injury in the 1990–91 season, he made only a few First Division appearances for the “Whites.” His departure from Leeds in November 1991 resulted in the team’s First Division championship.
After regaining his fitness, Kamara joined David Pleat’s Luton Town for a sum of £150,000 to stay in the Premier League.
On the final day of the 1991–92 campaign, the “Hatters” were demoted after blowing a 1-0 lead against Notts County to lose 2-1.
Kamara returned to the Premier League in October 1992 after being loaned to Dave Bassett’s Sheffield United.
Despite not securing a spot in the first team on a consistent basis during the 1992–1993 campaign, he made the transition from Kenilworth Road to Bramall Lane a permanent one.
In February 1993, he finally signed with Middlesbrough, albeit on a short-term loan, before joining United.
He only played five games during his time at Ayresome Park because manager Lennie Lawrence could not afford to sign him to a long-term deal. The “Blades” were demoted at the conclusion of the 1993–94 season after falling behind Chelsea on the final day of the regular season and dropping into the relegation zone.
After Lennie Lawrence, the team’s manager, offered Kamara a position as a playing-coach, Kamara agreed to join Bradford City in the summer of 1994.
Despite Kamara’s promotion to assistant manager in April 1995, the “Bantams” had a difficult 1994–1995 campaign.