Day -522. #WorldCup2018
Geoff Thomas was a pretty good footballer. I've mentioned him and his
infamous miss many times but there is a lot more to him than that, a lot
more. He was recruited by the legendary Dario Gradi, manager at Crewe
Alexandria for ever and ever, who had a reputation of developing a
number of players who went on to play at the highest level in England.
Thomas moved to Crystal Palace where he was a vital part of Palace's
highest ever finish in the English top division, third in 1991.
He played for England nine times under Graham Taylor in the early
nineties. It was a pretty dire England team at the time and his miss
against France in 1992 sadly added more fuel to the laughing stock value
of the team.
Thomas had a lot more to deal with after his
football career ended and his response to it was a greater demonstration
of the fighter that he was, greater than any battle won in midfield for
Palace or England. He was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia in
2003. He was given 3 months to live if he didn't undergo immediate
treatment and a further 3 years if he didn't receive a stem cell
transplant. Thankfully, his sister was a suitable donor and he has been
in remission since. Not content with overcoming leukaemia he set out to
do something to raise awareness and money for a cure. In 2005 he cycled
all 21 stages of Tour De France two days before the professional riders.
Having raised £250,000 he vowed to raise £2million over two years,
starting in 2015, for his Cure Leukaemia foundation which he co-founded
with the doctor who saved his life. He rode all the stages again in
2015, this time with a bigger support crew and more riders and will do
it again in 2017. He was also very influential in getting pharmaceutical
companies to release millions of dollars worth of medicines to help with
clinical trials.
Here's the video, but Geoff Thomas is now remembered for a lot more than just THAT miss.
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