An eight-minute cameo off the bench in pre-season for Wollongong Olympic is when Sandy Lowcock noticed something was wrong.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Illawarra Premier League striker had come back from a holiday with a chronic cough and he could not get a definitive answer on what was wrong.
"One doctor put it down to long COVID. Another doctor thought maybe there was some other things going on. But we were actually thinking it was maybe some sort of lung infection of something like that because in football I was really struggling," Lowcock explained.
"My capacity was just seemingly by each training session getting worse and worse to the point where we had a trial game and I played I think eight minutes off the bench and my heart rate was about 200. So obviously there was something wrong."
It was in late February when Lowcock was given the biggest shock of his life. He was diagnosed with cancer.
Fast-forward to now, after months of chemotherapy and radiation, the 25-year-old is now cancer-free.
"Being 25 and otherwise quite healthy, cancer is not the sort of thing that you're keeping an eye out for I guess.
"So we were just looking for some respiratory infection or something like that and in the end we found a tumour that was sitting sort of at the base of my neck that was about the size of a small mandarin. So it was pretty sizeable. It turned out it was lymphoma.
"It was pretty scary at the time and caught me a bit off guard. So fortunately the doctor that I was seeing was really good and was thorough and she organised stuff for me straight away. So I had to do about four months of chemotherapy and that was every two weeks. So it was eight cycles of chemo.
"Then I had about a month off and then I did three weeks of radiation therapy, which was five days a week in the morning. So it's been a journey."
After all that ordeal, the Olympic striker described the moment that the cancer had gone.
"I found out a little while ago [I had beaten it] whilst I was sort of finishing my chemo treatment. It's just crazy how quickly the treatment works," he said.
"After only a few months of chemo they did another scan and they told me that basically all the active cancer cells were gone and that most of what they were doing from now on was consolidation, making sure it doesn't come back. Which is crazy to think that I can have a tumour the size of a mandarin and maybe a couple of months of treatment and that can be gone. It's pretty amazing.
"But yeah I think it pulled me a bit by surprise a little bit. I think I went into the scan not really having put much thought into it. And then when I did get the call telling me that everything had responded well and I was cancer free, my family were all kind of making a real big deal and it took me a moment to actually go, 'right, this is a big deal'.
"I believe very strongly that was because God is in control and I was confident that even thought there was a lot of uncertainty and it was a very scary situation throughout the whole thing, I was feeling a lot of comfort knowing that I believe in a God that's in control of everything and this is part of his plan. For me, that was really big."
Lowcock added that the support from his family and from Olympic was huge and something he will always remember.
"When something like this happens it catches people a bit by surprise. But the way people responded was just awesome," he said.
"The club got behind me straight away and were very supportive. I had tons of messages from the guys in the team because I had to explain a little bit what was going on and why I wasn't playing and that sort of stuff.
"The boys were really good and the committee were amazing. Just messages of support and checking in frequently and making sure if there was stuff they could do.
"One of the things I found really hard throughout the process for the first couple of months was that I wasn't able to really do anything activity-wise because of where the tumour was, it was affecting my lungs and that was having an effect on my heart. So they were really stressed about me having an aneurysm or something where the heart was working too hard.
"So there was a period of a couple of months where I wasn't allowed to do anything other than go for a walk or something which I found really hard because sport and exercise is huge for me. So that was really difficult mentally.
"And the club was just amazing at making sure I still felt part of the group. I was still going to games and that sort of stuff. They just wanted to make sure that I still felt a part of it even though I might not be able to play or train.
"They even organised a 'Dry July' as well so the guys in the team did that and we raised I think about $3,500 for Illawarra Cancer Care which was really cool. It was a nice way for them to show their support.
"Obviously it's not an ideal situation, but I certainly didn't have to do it by myself thanks to amazing friends and family."
Lowcock hopes he will be part of grand final celebrations for Olympic this season. He is eyeing off a return to football in 2024.
"I think the absence has certainly made the heart grow fonder. My determination is to get back into good condition for next season. It's been really cool to be able to have a run around at training and a few minutes off the bench at the moment," he added.
"But obviously there's still a frustration with me physically, just not being where I'd like to be. I had three months where I was pretty much on the couch really sick. So the body just deteriorates over that time.
"I lost a lot of my strength and speed and conditioning and that sort of stuff. So at the moment it's great to be playing but I'm no where near where I'd like to be. And so I'm actually really looking forward to in one regard the season being finished so I can just concentrate on getting back into shape because I really missed it this year.
"I thought it was going to be a really good year and obviously the boys have done a really good job this season and it would have been good to be more involved with that process.
"But as far as my ability to perform at the level that I have been for the last few years, I think the indication hopefully is that I should be able to get back there, which is really exciting and really important for me to hear.
Our news app has had a makeover, making it faster and giving you access to even more great content. Download The Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store and Google Play.