Legendary football pundit Chris Kamara has opened up about his daily struggle with the speech condition apraxia. He told the Diary of a CEO podcast on Monday, “Everyday I wake up, the first thing I think… Am I going to be able to talk today?”
The TV personality, 64, shared how the speech condition left him feeling like “a fraud” and believing that people were “tolerating him” on the TV shows he appears on. Chris, known as Kammy, announced that he had developed “apraxia of Speech” in March 2022.
Apraxia of Speech, also known as verbal apraxia, is a neurological disorder caused by damage to the brain that affects speech and pronunciation. Kammy shared his diagnosis publicly after fans voiced their concerns over his “slurred” speech whilst presenting Sky Sports News.
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What did Chris Kamara say about apraxia?
With tears in his eyes Kammy told the Diary of a CEO podcast host Steven Bartlett: “I feel a fraud now in terms of broadcasting. I don't bring to the table what I used to.
“I feel like I’m doing these programmes and they’re not getting the best of me but they’re tolerating me. You take your old self for granted.”
He added that he worried he should have "bowed out" following his diagnosis. Kammy said: "Am I tarnishing what I've got, what I had?"
Kammy was reassured by host Steven that “25% of you is better than pretty much everyone else” and that he was acting as an inspiration for others suffering from speech disorders. During his early presenting career on Sky’s Soccer Saturday Kammy was known for talking at the speed of light.
Following the podcast episode being aired on Monday Kammy tweeted thanking his fans for their support. He wrote: “It was a pleasure to speak to @SteveBartlettSC Diary of a CEO podcast. It was only recorded last Friday so yesterday really took me by surprise.
“I can’t respond to everyone, but many thanks to all for the support and messages, which haven’t gone unnoticed - I’m very grateful.”
The popular pundit currently presents ITV's Ninja Warrior UK and the BBC's Proper Football podcast with Ben Shephard. He left Sky Sports at the end of last season.
Kammy’s most famous gaffe took place on Soccer Saturday when he missed Anthony Vanden Borre's red card. When asked for more detail on the red card he said: "I don't know Jeff, has there? I must have missed that".
What is speech apraxia?
Dyspraxia of speech is a speech disorder which causes a person trouble pronouncing words. It is caused by damage to the parts of the brain involved in speaking, which can make deliberate movements of the mouth difficult.
The NHS states: “The difficulty is not due to weakness or paralysis of the speech muscles. The severity of speech dyspraxia can range from mild to severe.” Automatic movements such as a yawn are not affected by the condition.
Symptoms of apraxia include struggling to put sounds and syllables in the correct order to form words, making inconsistent mistakes when speaking, and trouble "grasping the right word or sound". They may also find it difficult to use speech rhythms, stresses, and inflections to get across what they mean, the NHS states.
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