Yahoo News Chris Kamara on how Kate Garraway helped him accept speech diagnosis
The football pundit was diagnosed with apraxia of speech.
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Chris Kamara has shared how his friend Kate Garraway has helped him to accept his diagnosis of apraxia of speech.
The football pundit and broadcaster was diagnosed with the condition, which causes problems with speaking, in March 2022 and has opened up on how it has affected his TV career.
What, how, and why?
Football pundit Chris Kamara has told how it was a thoughtful suggestion about treatment from his friend Kate Garraway that helped him to be able to start addressing his apraxia of speech diagnosis. Broadcaster Kamara was diagnosed with the condition in March 2022 but did not open up about it publicly until September 2022 as he said that he felt ashamed of the effect it had on his speech, causing him to speak more slowly and slur his words.
But a kind recommendation from Garraway - who faces her own struggles as a carer to her husband Derek Draper, who needs round-the-clock care for complications from Covid - helped Kamara to start on a course of life-changing treatment.
He appeared on Lorraine on Monday, where he told host Lorraine Kelly that to begin with he had even tried to hide his struggles from his wife. Kamara said: "I woke up one day and went downstairs and tried to talk to my wife and it was slow from my brain to my mouth, and I thought I must have had too much to drink the night before.
"And a few hours later I was slurring my words and then you realise something is wrong. I went through the first year and half on my own, I told no-one but people guessed, my wife guessed. Eventually people started to realise, my reports weren't slick, they were slow."
Explaining why he had tried to keep the problems to himself, Kamara said: "I thought I'd be a hindrance to the family. I realise now it was stupid to think that. I was also ashamed. It gets me upset as I say it, I was ashamed of my condition.
I apologise to anyone who has a speech problem out there, don't be ashamed, get the help. I really am upset I thought they (family) wouldn't look after me if I had a serious condition."
But Kamara eventually had a breakthrough by trying a new course of treatment in Brazil, which Kelly revealed had been suggested by Garraway.
He said of the course: "Experimental treatment. Now the fluency is back but the only thing I am missing is the speed and I used to talk around 300mph but its slowly coming back. The treatment has been amazing but not been sanctioned by the world medical boards. I will be campaigning for them to try and get it over here."
What else has Chris Kamara said about his diagnosis?
Kamara has previously thanked Garraway's Good Morning Britain co-host - who he co-hosts Ninja Warrior UK with - for his support. He said during a GMB interview: "Can I say a big thank you to Ben because none of this would have happened without your help."
He added: "Acceptance was the hardest thing but now I've got this clear determination to help other people with speech conditions."
In his autobiography Kammy, released earlier this year, Kamara shared that he regretted not having taken part in I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!
He wrote that he loved working with Ant and Dec on Saturday Night Takeaway and added: "I'd have seen even more of them had I said yes to the regular requests to go on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, but I always turned the jungle down because of my commitment to Soccer Saturday and Goals on Sunday.
"My intention was to do it one day, once my Sky contract came to an end, but I'm in no shape to do so now, sadly. Neither my body nor mind could cope. I couldn't face hearing the words, 'Chris Kamara is exempt from this task due to health issues.' No chance. It's a big regret."
Lorraine airs on ITV at 9am on weekdays.
Read more: Chris Kamara
Chris Kamara is performing on Britain Get Singing to show the world how he is coping with apraxia (Bang Showbiz, 2 min read)
Chris Kamara opens up about feeling ashamed of rare speech disorder (Evening Standard, 3 min read)
Chris Kamara: My commentating became car crash TV after speech disorder (Belfast News Letter, 7 min read)
