Chris Kamara opens up about speech apraxia ahead of Great North Run

Chris Kamara is set to take part in the Great North Run more than four years after being diagnosed with speech apraxia.

The former footballer and Sky Sports pundit revealed his diagnosis in 2022 and stepped away from his broadcasting career that year.

Speech apraxia is a neurological disorder that affects the brain’s ability to plan and coordinate the movements needed for clear speech.

Kamara recently spoke about his health during an appearance on ITV’s This Morning.

Speaking to Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard, he said: “I’m feeling great, my voice has quickened up and I’m so much better.”

Kamara will be joined in the Great North Run by his son Jack and Shephard.

He also spoke about the support Shephard has given him during his experience with speech apraxia.

Kamara told him: “You kept onto me, my carer there, he’s been amazing. He’s been there for me the whole time, he looks after me so much, but having someone behind you keep saying, ‘You’re still the same person as you were before’, is amazing.”

Kamara spoke further about his diagnosis during an appearance on Good Morning Britain in May.

Asked by host Ranvir Singh how he was coping, he said: “Ah, I’m great. Yeah, I’m fine. I’m not the same person as I was, but I accept the new me now, and everybody else seems to accept it, so you get on with life.

“I had apraxia of speech, a brain injury. So, the message from the brain to the mouth is interrupted. So, sometimes you can’t speak, or you speak slower.”

Kamara said it was important to “accept the person you are now and not crave the person you were before. And then you can get on.”