Football hero's cancer battle

Specialist Multimedia Sports Journalist·NZ Herald·

24 Sep, 2015 05:00 PM4 mins to read

Steve Sumner at the 1982 World Cup. Photo / Supplied

1982 World Cup skipper Steve Sumner has a message: Get tested.

All Whites legend Steve Sumner is facing the greatest battle of his life.

The captain of the celebrated 1982 World Cup team - who was awarded Fifa's highest individual honour for his services to football - has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

He will undergo bone and CT scans over the next few weeks to find out the full picture, but the initial biopsy results have been challenging for the 60-year-old.

"They've told me in terms of biopsies it doesn't get too much worse," said Sumner.

"All 12 biopsies came back positive and they gave me a Gleason rating of nine. My doctor told me that he sees only about five or 10 cases a year that high.

"But I have to scrap and fight. My kids, my family ... they have been upset but also amazing at this time so I have to fight for them.

"My daughter told me, 'I need you ... you are going to walk me down the aisle. My wife said, 'I thought we were going to grow old together.' And my grandson is 16 months old ... with another one on the way. You want to see that."

Sumner played 105 times for New Zealand between 1976 and 1988. He led the All Whites on their "Road to Spain" in 1982, was the first Oceania player to score a World Cup goal and was decorated with Fifa's Order of Merit in 2010.

He is publicising his situation to raise awareness of prostate cancer. "I want to get the message out there. Get checked ... and don't just get a blood test. I've got nothing to hide and I want to help others."

Sumner initially thought something was awry in July, when he was going to the toilet "every five minutes".

"I thought maybe it was an enlarged prostate - or I was just getting old."

"You can get busy living or get busy dying...and I'm busy living. Life is good."

However, a few weeks later he was tested at his local medical centre.

A prostate test about 18 months earlier hadn't indicated anything - but this time the doctor noticed something, and suspicions were confirmed by the biopsy results this month.

"It's hard to understand how I missed this," said Sumner. "But I have moved beyond the 'why me' stage. And now my motto is, 'You can get busy living or get busy dying ... and I'm busy living. Life is good'."

Sumner's four children - two of whom are based in Sydney - have returned home to help their father deal with the news and plot the next course of action.

"They've been brilliant - it's been uplifting," said Sumner. "They've been researching everything about what I should eat, what I should do. It's given me a massive lift."

Sumner has completely changed his diet, and is taking supplements and herbal-based products, including one he describes as a "witch's brew". He's maintaining an exercise programme and went with his sons on a successful whitebaiting mission last week. He also cites the support he has received from family, friends and the football community, with plenty of messages from his 1982 team-mates.

"It's been very inspiring. And I feel good. It's a strange feeling. Sometimes I feel like I'm fighting the invisible man but I feel I'm going to catch him with a right hook before long."

Sumner is booked in for a CT scan on Monday, and a bone scan the following week.

"I want to give me and my family the best shot. I don't want them to think we could have done more.

"Lately, I have been reminded of our team song in 1982; we sang it every day on the bus: 'Stand up and fight until you hear the bell. Until you hear that final bell - stand up and fight like hell.' I've been singing it every day'."