Chris Kamara: My apraxia has left me weak

Chris Kamara’s apraxia has left him “weak” and struggling to carry out simple tasks.

The former football player was left devastated after being diagnosed with apraxia of speech last year.

Once a charismatic Sky Sports News personality, Kammy now struggles to talk due to the motor speech disorder that impedes the ability to speak and has resigned from his post as a result.

The brain condition has also affected his physical abilities and sometimes his body is so weak that he struggles to carryout everyday tasks like shopping.

Speaking in new ITV documentary 'Chris Kamara: Lost For Words', he revealed: "The part of my brain that’s packed in affects my muscles. I’m so weak now. Coordination is not very good. Balance is not very good.

“Everybody talks about the speech side of it, but there’s also other factors to go with it. I can’t carry shopping.”

Despite his debilitating disorder, a resilient Kammy perseveres with weekly coordination exercises in hopes of improving his condition.

He added: “These are a way for me to get stronger.”

The 64-year-old TV personality - who played for Portsmouth, Leeds and Stoke during his on-field career - admits that some days he has no issues with being able to communicate, but he doesn't get any warning of when he will have a bad day when his words won't come out.

He shared: "Sometimes I think, it’s fine today, no problem. Then I go downstairs and talk to Anne and the message from the brain to the mouth won’t come out right. So it would be another day of anguish, thinking what should I do? Should I go to work today, or should I not?”

Chris’ wife of 40 years, Anne – who he wed in 1982 and has two sons. Ben, 35, and Jack, 34 – has seen her husband struggle with the new health challenges in his life.

She said: “Chris used to do everything at 100 miles an hour, so he is a different person. He just has to get used to the new person that he is.”

Chris wants to continue to share his story and do everything he can to improve his condition because he knows his celebrity status can shed light on all forms of speech impediments.

He said: “I’m in a lot better place now than I was. I didn’t accept what was going on in my body. It’s a long process. It’s going the right way.

“I will continue now because I know while I’m out there and what I’m doing will be helping someone with a speech condition think, ‘If he can do it, I can do it.'"