Chris Karama shares powerful health update after suffering ‘brain injury’

When he revealed his health, former professional footballer and sports broadcaster Chris Kamara presented an award at the National Diversity Awards.

Chris Kamara has opened up about his brain injury and how he got through it at the National Diversity Awards. The former footballer and sports broadcaster was diagnosed with speech apraxia in 2022.

Chris, 67, gave a speech in which he described what he’d been through and thanked the audience for assisting him in getting to “the other side” before accepting an award at the National Diversity Awards.

He addressed the audience, “As some of you may know, I recently had a brain injury.” The good news is that I’ve made it through to the other side right now. And it’s all because of people like you’re kind, so we’re all very grateful.

In 2022, Chris was diagnosed with speech apraxia, a condition that affects someone’s ability to combine speech plans with motor plans, leading to limited and challenging speech abilities. A brain injury is frequently the cause. Following the decision to stop presenting sports, Chris was diagnosed shortly after experiencing “brain fog” during an interview on The One Show the year before.

On Friday (19 September), Chris took to the stage at the National Diversity Awards to present an award. He continued his speech by joking that he would now do the job he was “supposed to do”, and then took a far more serious tone to discuss the state of the world right now.

“Right, let’s get to the work I’m supposed to do. Unfortunately, racism and prejudice still exist in our society. Sometimes being yourself is the only way to find true strength. I think that everyone in my world is equal, and that everyone I know thinks the same.

Chris admitted he was “very weak” in spite of his battle with speech apraxia, which also affects your balance, in a health update he shared with fans in June. Even the TV presenter admitted to having trouble descending stairs.

He took a break from his TV shows to concentrate on his treatment and traveled to Mexico to try to halt or reverse the effects of his condition when he was first diagnosed.

His speech did improve and Chris returned to TV punditry during the Premier League Boxing Day games in 2024 but has said that he is “choosy” about what he does because his struggles with balance still impact what he can do.

He told the Daily Star, “I’m picky these days.” “It’s what happened with the work because I still don’t want to put myself in a situation where it comes back to bite me,” I said.

So I’m not the same as the former Chris Kamara who would approve of an envelope’s opening. I have dyspraxia, which affects your balance, while I’m currently a little more picky and will put myself in a situation where it won’t work alongside my apraxia.

“I’m weak, really weak, and, you see, going down these stairs isn’t great,” I said. The brain tells you that going up these stairs is fine, but going down these stairs means you’re going to fall, so you have to hold on to the banister while traveling and traveling with things like that. I’ll be taking those plane steps for 5 minutes, so don’t wait in the queue behind me.

Source: Mirror