Chris Kamara: Broadcaster "ashamed" by apraxia diagnosis before speech illness treatment

Broadcaster and footballing legend Chris Kamara has opened up about a mental health battle sparked by his speech disorder.

Kamara, affectionately known as "Kammy", was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid in 2021. It was later discovered that he had apraxia of speech, a motor disease that caused him to step away from the world of television.

Since then, he has been receiving treatment for the condition in Brazil, and today (December 11) went on ITV's Lorraine to speak more about his illness.

In his interview, a tearful Kammy said: "I woke up one day and went downstairs and tried to talk to my wife and it was slow from my brain to my mouth, and I thought I must have had too much to drink the night before. Aa few hours later I was slurring my words and then you realise something is wrong.

"I went through the first year and half on my own, I told no-one but people guessed, my wife guessed. Eventually people started to realise, my reports weren't slick, they were slow.

"I thought I'd be a hinderence to the family. I realise now it was stupid to think that. I was also ashamed. It gets me upset as I say it, I was ashamed of my condition."

Lorraine Kelly then mentioned that Kammy turned to Good Morning Britain star Kate Garraway, who suggested medical treatment in Brazil. Through this treatment, Kammy's speech is starting to return, slower than it was before but coherent and conversational.

"Now the fluency is back but the only thing I am missing is the speed," he added. "I used to talk around 300mph but its slowly coming back. The treatment has been amazing but not been sanctioned by the world medical boards. I will be campaigning for them to try and get it over here."