October 3 – In September 2013 the 38-year-old former Dutch international Fernando Ricksen was diagnosed with the terminal nerve disease ALS. A year later, the former football Wildman with a best-selling autobiography under his belt, has become the face of the fight against the killer disease. Interview extracted from FIFA Weekly
How are you doing today?
Fernando Ricksen: As is to be expected given the circumstances. Of course I was shocked at first and I initially tried to block it out, but that only made things worse. Now I’ve adapted to the illness much better.
How have you done that?
I found a way of coping with it all much better. For example, I spent the last three months in Turkey and that has done me a lot of good. Prior to that I was tired all the time and had the first symptoms of the disease – difficulties speaking, swallowing and breathing. I gradually lost control of my muscles. But after spending a while close to the sea I feel much better. I’ve got my voice back and have also regained control of my hands. I can move myself around virtually without any problems.
How have you managed to achieve that?
It might have something to do with the adjustment
to my medication. I consulted a Russian doctor my wife recommended to me. I certainly feel better and I have more energy again now. I’d be very thankful if things were to stay like this, or at least if they didn’t get much worse.
ALS is considered incurable and is largely under-researched, while the average life expectancy of ALS sufferers is a maximum of three years. Do you fear what the future holds?
No I don’t. What would be the point? I live in the here and now. I’d go crazy if I thought too much about the disease, so I prefer not to.
The average age of ALS patients in the Netherlands in 55 years, yet you are only 38.
But I will reach 55 at least, you’ll see. There’s no way
I’m giving up. I’m not going to just roll over in the face of the disease. I’m a fighter by nature and always have been. That’s what I was like as a player and am even more so now.
You were renowned for your fighting spirit but away from the pitch you created headlines for other reasons: sex, drugs and alcohol. Has something in your outlook changed?
I’ve become a different person since meeting my wife Veronika two years ago. Yes, I used to be a party animal and I liked to drink. There were many times when I’d go straight from the bar into training but that’s all in the past. Now I’m a family man and a father to a two-year-old girl. I’m relishing my new role and there’s nothing better than building sand castles on the beach with my daughter Isabella. My wife and my daughter have brought me back down to earth.
Your autobiography ‘Fighting Spirit’ became a bestseller in the Netherlands and the UK at the start of 2014. Does your popularity help you cope with ALS?
I enjoy the attention – it gives me strength. That said, I have to be very careful with how I dispense my energy. As good as all the support does me, it’s also very emotionally draining. I needed three days to recover from the inauguration of the Ricksen Stand in Sittard recently.
You are the face of the fight against ALS and the football community has declared its solidarity and willingness to help. What can be done to combat the disease?
Researchers need to work together across the globe. We’re only just at the beginning. The Ice Bucket Challenge was an important step in raising awareness and football can help do that too. I’m convinced we can make the impossible possible and overcome the illness one day. Somebody somewhere is going to defeat this monster and I’d like that person to be me. I’d like to be the first person to overcome ALS.
Interview with Fernando Ricksen by Bernd Fisa, published in FIFA Weekly today