Chris Plummer:

Official friend of the PLC Chris Plummer is one of Posh’s current central defensive rocks. It took Chris a while to settle in, but a string of superb performances in the 05-06 season meant he was an asset to the team. Unfortunately, Chris also had the extreme misfortune to spend some of last season sidelined due to testicular cancer. Thankfully, he has overcome this setback and has begun the 06-07 season in the same excellent form as last year. His hard work and obvious passion for the game and the club endeared him to many, especially the PLC. But it was his willingness to turn out for the club, even after his diagnosis, when short of fit players, as well as his triumph over his illness that truly gave him legendary status. The PLC saw fit to award him the inaugural ‘PLC Keeping it Posh’ award at PISA2000’s end of season awards night, and the PLC are sponsoring Chris’s kit for the 06-07 season.

The news that Chris PLummer had been diagnosed with testicular cancer came as a horrible shock for all involved at the Posh. It was the second time in the past 18 months that a Posh player had been diagnosed with cancer. Andy Legg has made a sucessful recovery after a cancerous tumour was discovered on his neck, and has even donated a sizeable portion of the money from his benifit match to the child lukemia charity LATCH. Thinking selfishly, in the way that sport allows us to do, the timing of the diagnoses for Chris could not have occured at worse time football wise. As a born and breed Londoner he started his career at his local club QPR where he made his professional debut at the age of 19 playing against Nottingham Forest in the Preimership. His performances and composure on the ball won him many fans amongst QPR supporters and earned him five England Under 21 caps. His career was then rocked by a series of horrific injuries including a broken leg which kept him out for almost a seaosn and a broken ankle which occured two games into his comeback from the broken leg which sidelined him for almost as long. Then, everyone's favourite oddball manager Ian Holloway decided not to renew his contract and he dropped into non-league football to play for Barnet, where he played alongside former Posh old boy Ian Hendon. After a year at Barnet he became one of Fry's last ever signings, (he was the last player he signed from Barnet!) when he joined the Posh for £30,000. The season was one of the worst in recent times and finished with the Posh being relegated and Plummer not real imposing himself on the squad as much as the fans would have wished. Under Mark Wright Plummer became a mainstay of the surest defence Posh had seen in many a year and his performances where markedly improved on last year making him one of the first names on the team sheet. His finest moment come in the last game of 2005 where he not only performed admirably against the wobblers attack but also showed the stirkers how to finish by scoring the only goal against them. Fast forward less than 60 days later and Chris Plummer was playing his last game of the season after being diagnosed with cancer.

Both cases have served as a reminder that cancer is not a disease that solely effects elderly. Testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer amongst young males between the ages of 18 and 35, though it also has one of the highest cure rates of all cancers, at around 90%, and is essentially 100% if caught soon enough. Medical experts recommend regular monthly testicular self-examination after a hot shower, when the scrotum is looser. Men should examine each testicle, first feeling for lumps and then compare the testicles to each other together to see whether one is larger than the other.

Symptoms may include one or more of the following:

* a lump in one testicle
* pain and tenderness in the testicles
* blood in semen during ejaculation
* build-up of fluid in the scrotum
* a dull ache in the lower abdomen or groin
* an increase, or significant decrease, in the size of one testicle.

If you exhibt one or more of these symptons you should report to a doctor as soon as possible.

The high success rate and the effectivness of the treatment has allowed players to come back from treatment and continue on with their careers, most notabley Neil Harris who continued to score goals-a-plenty with Millwall and lately Gillingham and Alan Stubbs who continued to ship goals-a-plenty at Sunderland and is currently leading another improbable charge on Europe with Everton. Other examples of sportsment who have recovered from testicular cancer include Spanish international goalkeeper José Francisco Molina, Major League Baseball player John Kruk and five times winner of the Tour de France Lance Armstrong. I'm sure you along with everyone at`Blue Moon wil wish Chris all the best in his recovery from cancer and hope to see him playing in a Posh shirt as soon as possible.

For more information on testicular cancer visit: www.checkmelads.com