In this week's episode, I spoke with the hugely inspirational Irish Hockey international Matthew Bell from Northern Ireland. Matthew is 27 years old, has 105 Ireland caps to his name (an incredible feat in itself at that age) and was playing hockey professionally for his club Crefelder HTC in Germany in late 2019 when, after a period of dizzy spells and sickness, was to be told the news that he had a brain tumour the size of 3 golf balls.

In the episode we explore Matthew's upbringing, his relationship with his family who have been his side from the very start, the journey he took with his illness from diagnosis through to rehabilitation & the outlook it has taught him to have for life moving forward.

Amongst other things, we touch on;

• How Hockey was always the #1 goal, from childhood all the way to playing professionally and representing Ireland
• The story in detail of how Matthew was to be told of his diagnosis, the resulting journey he and his family were forced to take as he underwent multiple surgeries and further stresses in working out how to get him home to Northern Ireland for cancer treatment
• Matthew's ambitions in recovery & getting back to full fitness to represent Ireland again and qualify for the 2024 Olympics
• A hopeful turn-out for Banbridge Hockey Club at the end of the 20/21 season
• And his gratitude for his family, friends, hockey community and healthcare staff who stood by his side in his most difficult times

I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed speaking with Matthew and being awe-struck at this journey. If you do enjoy the episode, please like, share, retweet and pass it on to help it go wider - and don't forget to subscribe to the podcast for new episode releases every Monday morning. Thanks as always for the support, and for listening.