I couldn’t sleep and suddenly lost weight, says Premier League ace David Brooks, 25, as he opens up about cancer battle

PREMIER League ace David Brooks has told how he learned he had cancer — but has now given it the boot.

The Bournemouth star, 25, was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma in late 2021, weeks after scoring for Wales against Croatia.

PABournemouth ace David Brooks said: ‘I explained to the doctor I’d been struggling to sleep and had some night sweats as well as a sudden drop in weight.’[/caption]

Now he is back on the pitch — and supporting Race for Life fundraisers.

Brooks, from Warrington, Cheshire, recalled: “I went away with Wales and they do a medical check at the start of international duty.

“I explained to the doctor I’d been struggling to sleep and had some night sweats as well as a sudden drop in weight.

“Twenty minutes later he came to my room and said, ‘I don’t want to alarm you but everything you have described to me is a symptom of cancer’.

“It was a big one to try to digest and knowing you had to ring your mum and dad and tell them something so big when you still didn’t know for sure yourself, meant it was a very tough couple of hours.

“The worst pops into your head.”

The Cherries’ midfielder spent 18-months going through intensive treatment after his stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis in October 2021.

Brooks added: “To be able to play football again is a real blessing and I hope people will take part in Race for Life to support the kind of research that helped to get me back on the pitch.”

Race for Life, organised by Cancer Research UK, will be holding events across the UK on May 14.