Former Blues midfielder and academy coach Kieron Dyer has spoken about his wait for a liver transplant.
Dyer, 43, revealed last year that he had been diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis and would require a transplant, liver problems having initially been discovered in 2002.
The former England international has now been on the waiting list for six months and could receive a call at any time. While he waits, he can’t travel more than two hours away from Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge.
Having resigned from his role as Town’s U23s manager in March, Dyer’s coaching career is currently on hold until after his operation.
"Sometimes, there are people waiting for transplants who only have weeks to live,’ Dyer told the Daily Mail.
"I am getting increasingly fatigued but I’m not in the super-urgent category so I might have to wait a few more months until my liver has really deteriorated before I am called in. There are not enough livers for the demand of people who need them.
"I am just thankful that they have found out what’s wrong with me. I’m aware that I’m dependent on someone else’s misfortune giving me the chance to live a long and happy life.
"My greatest hope is that, whoever’s liver I get, I do that person proud. They encourage you to touch base with the family of your donor after your operation and that’s something I thoroughly intend to do.
"It would give me some comfort, I think, if I was in the situation of a family who had lost a loved one. They would have lost someone they have cherished and loved but through their generosity, they have given someone else the chance of a long life.
"I hope I’ll earn their legacy. I wouldn’t want to screw that up. I know how precious a second chance would be.”
He added: "I was really scared when I got told I needed a liver transplant. I thought that was it. But then when the surgeon and the transplant team came round, they have got so many people in the team, co-ordinators, the anaesthetists, physios and psychiatrists.
"And you see people who have overcome the operation. It’s kind of routine for the hospital now, they do so many of them.
"Your family and people close to you panic when you tell them. I could see when I told people, I could see the dread on them. It gave me the mental side back. I am not putting bravado on but you have to find that inner strength, not just for you but for them.
"They’re worried but I’m not worried. I just feel that the way my life has been in the last six months, I am constantly fatigued and I can’t do what I used to do.
"I am looking forward to it in a way. I am looking forward to being a brand new me and doing things better and quicker because I am still competitive.
"The record for someone being discharged from hospital after this operation is nine days and I want to beat that. I am not fazed by it. I have got the mental strength to believe I will overcome the operation.”