Sky Blues boss Gary McAllister has spoken for the first time of his devastation after his wife Denise was diagnosed with breast cancer.
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McAllister - My wife's the real hero
Sky Blues boss Gary McAllister has spoken for the first time of his devastation after his wife Denise was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Now he has signed up for a £1million campaign to recruit specialist nurses to tackle the condition that affects thousands across the UK each year.
In an amazingly frank interview, Gary said: "It was the scariest time of my life. At the time, people were calling me a hero for what we achieved on the pitch - but the true hero was at home.
"When you've been through cancer in your family, you feel you have a responsibility to help others because you're in the public eye."
Denise, now aged 35, was diagnosed with breast cancer while Gary was playing for Liverpool. She discovered a lump while she was expecting the couple's second child, Oliver.
Doctors advised her to postpone treatment for a month so the baby could be induced safely - but then she underwent five hours of surgery at Nottingham City Hospital for a mastectomy and the removal of lymph glands.
"At the time, we were entering a period of our lives which was meant to be exhilarating," said 37-year-old Gary.
"I'd just signed for Liverpool, we had enjoyed a wonderful holiday in Portugal and Denise was expecting.
"When she was told the devastating news, it was a bombshell but Denise just said: 'OK, this is what I have to do. So I'll do it.' That's Denise all over. She's a very strong person."
Denise, who underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy, still needs regular checkups and takes the anti-cancer drug, Tamoxifen.
If she remains clear for another three years, she will have passed the most dangerous time.
"I thought I was going to die," she admitted. "It hits you so hard that you're left stunned by the whole thing.
"But you have to look forward, not back, whatever happens.
"I was no braver than anyone else in that position."