Good Morning Britain took an emotional turn after Chris Kamara broke down in tears while talking about his battle with speech disorder apraxia.
The 64-year-old sportsman revealed last year that he has developed apraxia, a rare neurological condition affecting his speech. Due to his diagnosis, the former professional footballer turned pundit was forced to quit his Sky Sports gig.
And on Thursday (November 9), Chris appeared on Good Morning Britain – but hosts Susanna Reid and Ben Shephard had to step in and comfort Kammy during the emotional chat.
Chris Kamara tears up over apraxia struggle
Chris sat down for an interview to discuss his apraxia, while promoting his new memoir, Kammy: My Unbelievable Life. However, Chris became overwhelmed with emotion and admitted how he felt “ashamed” over his speech.
Apraxia is a motor speech disorder that makes it difficult to speak. It can make saying the right sounds and words difficult and can be observed as slurring. It’s caused by damage to the parts of the brain that control how muscles move, leading to apraxia of speech.
Chris Kamara ‘ashamed’ over living with apraxia
Bravely opening up on GMB, Chris said: “I thought that defined me, I get upset talking about it because I was in denial, I was ashamed that I couldn’t speak.”
Susanna then reached out to console him, as he went on: “I didn’t want to be a burden, I’ve spent my life looking after my family, and I don’t want to be in a position where they have to look after me, but they would love to… I realised how wrong I was.”
As tears filled up in his eyes, Susanna said: “You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, honestly. Let me just take your hand. You’ve done so much to inspire other people.”
Chris Kamara thanks GMB host Ben
The TV star also thanked co-host Ben for his support and help. The GMB presenter had previously persuaded Kammy to share his speech disorder publicly.
On GMB, Chris tearfully quipped: “Can I say a big thank you to Ben because none of this would have happened without your help.”
Ben then got up from behind the desk and went over and hugged Chris. The pair then became overcome with emotion. Sitting back at his desk, and trying to move swiftly on, Ben said: “Laura can we get the weather now please? This is really embarrassing.”
Read more: Chris Kamara contemplated ending his own life amid ‘dark times’ of debilitating health diagnosis
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