Chris Kamara became emotional as he discussed his battle with a rare speech disorder while appearing on Good Morning Britain.
The sports pundit, 65, was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid in 2021 and then apraxia of speech, which led to him stepping away from the majority of his broadcasting roles.
Apraxia is a little-understood neurological condition that affects the body’s ability to perform natural motor functions, and apraxia of speech is a specific motor speech disorder that makes it difficult to speak.
Speaking to good friend Ben Shephard and Susana Reid on the ITV breakfast show, Kamara, or “Kammy” as he is affectionately known to millions, became overwhelmed as he admitted that he felt “ashamed” of his speech problems.
He explained: “I didn’t know what it was. I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid… I thoughtthat was it and it was affecting my voice. A thyroid expert, Peter Taylor, said it normally doesn’t affect your voice, you need to get another opinion.
“So I went to see a brain specialist and I was only in there for two minutes speaking to him, and he said you’ve got apraxia of speech, where the connection between the brain and the mouth breaks down and you can’t say the words, your mouth can’t control itself to say the words properly.”
The former footballer, who was on the show to promote new memoir, Kammy: My Incredible Life, continued: “The [words] come out very slow so I thought that defined me. So, my apologies to everybody who’s got a speech condition because it doesn’t define who you are. I get upset talking about it because I was in denial, I was ashamed that I couldn’t speak.”
Taking his hand to comfort him, Reid told Kamara that he has “nothing to be ashamed of”.
“Honestly, you’ve done so much to inspire other people. I know Ben, you’ve had experiences haven’t you, where you’ve spoken to other people who are no longer ashamed of what they’re experiencing because of the way [Kamara has] spoken out about it.”
Discussing the impact on his life, he added: “I didn’t want to be a burden, that’s the thing. I thought you know, I’ve spent my life trying to look after my family and I don’t want them to be in a position where they’re having to care for me but they would love to if that situation happened.
“All the support I’ve had, I realise how wrong I was, so now I’ve got the opportunity to try and help people with speech and language problems.”
