Hibs star Jimmy Jeggo opens up on gruelling leukaemia battle as he shares incredible odds-defying tale of bravery

Jimmy Jeggo sat sobbing on the bathroom floor of his hotel room.

He couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. He’d locked himself in to avoid waking a team-mate who was asleep. The pain was acute. At first it was his shoulder but it had now travelled to his hip. He was 16-years-old, 9000 miles from home and alone. Why was he in so much agony? All he wanted to do was play football but his body wouldn’t let him.

When he eventually returned to Australia, nothing could have prepared Jeggo or his family for a devastating diagnosis. He had leukaemia. And it was serious. The following eight months should have been about his developing as a player and achieving his dream of becoming a professional. Instead, it was about staying alive. Five days at home were followed by 10 in hospital. On repeat. The blasts of chemotherapy would wipe him out.

Yet incredibly, whenever his kid brother Luc would come to visit, he’d be amazed to see Jimmy doing sit-ups at the side of his hospital bed. When he lost weight through the treatment, he’d order his parents to bring him a McDonald’s to try and put it back on. When he felt fit enough to kick a ball on his days off chemo, he’d train at Melbourne Victory – even when he’d lost his hair. Resilience? When you consider what Jeggo has been through, most footballers don’t know the meaning of the word.

The Hibernian midfielder sometimes wonders if he could have done more in the game. Then he has to remind himself that he might not have been here at all. For him to represent the clubs he’s played for – as well as earn 15 caps for his country – is nothing short of incredible. And that’s why now, at 31, he’s just savouring every moment of life at Easter Road. His illness and the ordeal his family faced