Sebastien Haller is proud of his fight against testicular tumor

Sebastien Haller spoke of his pride in winning his battle with a testicular tumor and urged men not to be ashamed to control themselves.

The Borussia Dortmund striker was diagnosed with the testicular tumor just two weeks after signing for the German club in July last year.

Something hadn’t felt right in his stomach for a few weeks and after checking it, he was informed of his condition within 24 hours.

Two surgeries and multiple chemotherapy treatments followed, but Haller recovered to return to training earlier this year, finally making his Dortmund debut as a second-half substitute against Augsburg in January. Before scoring his first goal for the club on February 4, World Cancer Day.

Ahead of his Champions League return with the Bundesliga club against Chelsea, Haller said BT sport about his battle with cancer and how proud he is to have overcome it.

Sebastien Haller has spoken about his pride after returning from a testicular tumor

Haller was diagnosed with a testicular tumor just weeks after joining Dortmund last year

“It’s a part of my life now, a mark on my body that cannot be forgotten. But I don’t want to hide it, I’m really proud of what I’ve done.” The Ivory Coast international told BT Sport.

“It’s been about 5 weeks since I felt uncomfortable in a part of my stomach so we had to check it out.

“Within 24 hours they knew it was a tumor so it was a big shock. I’ve been trying to keep calm, when you start thinking about bad things your mind goes in all directions and you make mistakes.

The difficult thing is knowing that you could bring pain and sadness to the people you know and your family. The chemo was tough, you know what’s gonna happen when you’ve had a couple, and you know the wait is still long.

When the doc told me I had the green light and I could be back on the pitch. It was such a relief you know.’

The former West Ham striker, who has now recovered and is back on the pitch, wants to make sure men aren’t afraid to check themselves and warns it can happen at any time and affect anyone in your life.

“I want to say that it can happen to anyone, it can happen to anyone and it can come quickly. Haller added.

“So we need to check that out. It can save lives. Not only for your life but also for your family because when something happens you have people around you who can have an impact. So we need to check that.”

Haller underwent two rounds of chemotherapy and two surgeries during his treatment

Haller returned to Borussia Dortmund after battling the tumor in January

Rio Ferdinand paid tribute to Haller and his message of urging men to control themselves

The moving interview and its message were echoed by Rio Ferdinand in the BT Sport studio. The former England defender, who sadly watched his first wife lose her battle with breast cancer in 2015, admitted he has been hiding from checking himself but hailed Haller as a trailblazer.

“At one point he looks so sick just looking at him. You think there will be a way back and now you look at him and he’s playing in a Champions League game. said Ferdinand.

“It’s really phenomenal. The small margins between being able to do this and going the other way around are so obvious and so well documented. The narrative he’s pushing now is fabulous, even to get us guys talking before we come and ask if we’ve checked it out.

I’m going to start doing it because I’ve kind of hid myself from doing it because of my own personal history. But I think he’s a real enabler and a lot of people need to see that because the power in it is huge and immense.

We take this game so seriously, but that puts everything into perspective. The mental toughness he had to go through to get to this point. We sometimes get caught up in results and decisions and what it means to play football, but really it’s life.”

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