The 47-year-old former NBA player, who had already revealed a few months ago that he was being treated for a brain tumor, said in an interview with ESPN that he had stage four glioblastoma: “It arrived incredibly quickly”, he reveals, describing the first symptoms of memory loss and inability to concentrate which reached the critical point in August.
The player, protagonist of a great victory in civil terms (in 2013 he was the first professional athlete from one of the 4 major American sports leagues to come out, a choice supported by the entire NBA world), declared: “I’ve had strange symptoms for a week or two, but unless there’s something really wrong, I’ll move on. I’m an athlete.”
After recent analyzes, the dramatic outcome: the extent and severity of his disease, which he defined as a “multiform” glioblastoma that is growing very rapidly. The former player, treated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, decided to go to Singapore to try a new experimental treatment.
“Imagine a monster with tentacles the size of a baseball extending into the bottom of my brain,” the basketball player pointed out.
Complete removal is impossible without leaving the procedure “changed,” Collins points out, since the tumor is located in a critical region near the frontal lobe, the area that shapes personality.
In his fight against cancer, he draws parallels with his decision to come out and his life as an athlete: “The last twelve years, since I came out, have been the best of my life. Life is so much better when you act like you really are. As an athlete, you learn not to panic in moments like these. These are the cards I’ve been dealt. For me, it’s like, ‘Shut up and play.’
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