Sky Sports legend Chris Kamara in heartbreaking health update as he explains he can't walk down stairs unaided
Sky Sports presenter Chris Kamara has delivered an update on his devastated health battle, revealing that he is no longer able to walk down the stairs unaided.
The former footballer, who is best known for his football punditry on Sky Sports and for hosting Ninja Warrior UK, announced in 2022 that he had been diagnosed with speech apraxia - a motor disorder which leads sufferers to lose the ability to carry out skilled movements and gestures, including speech.
Chris, 66, had previously been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid and thought that was to blame for his speech before visiting a brain specialist and learning of apraxia. The broadcaster has now given an update on his condition two years after publicly announcing his apraxia, revealing that while he's "on the mend", he still struggles with walking down stairs.
Speaking to pal Ben Shephard and his co-host Cat Deeley on This Morning on Monday 8 July, Chris spoke about his condition with Ben saying: "The condition that you have is a condition called apraxia. It's a neurological condition that interrupts the neurological pathways so your speech but it also affects your balance and your speech as well."
Chris responded: "It's dyspraxia as well so I find it difficult now to walk downstairs without holding the handle and various other things but that's alright. I'm quite happy with that. I can get by with that and there's always someone worse off than you so I'm fine.
"I'm on the mend. I've stopped feeling sorry for myself which I did at the beginning but now I'm on the mend."
Chris had previously spoken about his diagnosis, breaking down on Good Morning Britain last year after admitting that he was "ashamed" of his condition. "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," he said.
"I get upset talking about it because I was in denial, I was ashamed that I couldn’t speak," he added, to which host Susanna Reid responded: "You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of honestly, you’ve done so much to inspire other people."
He added that talking about his condition in his ITV documentary Chris Kamara: Lost for Words helped him - particularly as he was supported by his Ninja Warrior UK co-presenter Ben Shephard. "Ben was behind me coming out and doing the documentary and talking about it," he said.
"And once I’d spoken about it, you get it off your chest, and realise that everyone’s behind you. Family and friends are all with you all the way no matter what happens."
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.
