My mum was fighting for her life... I didn't care much about football

SHAMAL GEORGE has revealed how the fear of losing his mum as she battled breast cancer destroyed his desire for football.

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The St Mirren goalie was at Livingston when Kerry was diagnosed with the disease in 2023.

He put on a brave face whenever on family FaceTime calls or training for Davie Martindale's team.

But the truth was that living so far from his stricken mum's Merseyside home tore him apart during her treatment.

George lost his place in the team to loan veteran Michael McGovern in mid-season.

He returned with a heroic performance in a victory over St Mirren in February 2024, inspired by having brave Kerry in the crowd.

That made for a tearful occasion as she had travelled to West Lothian with eight rounds of chemotherapy and surgery still to go.

This weekend's journey north sees a healthy Kerry, family and friends descend on Hampden to watch George compete for the Premier Sports Cup. Recalling his struggles of two years ago, George said: “It probably shouldn't have been like that but I didn't care much about football at that point.

“I wasn't focused on it because of what was going on at home.

“It was my second season at Livingston and I shouldn't really bring that into football life.

“But people don't understand how hard that is when someone's life is at risk. I was mentally in a bad place. My mum wanted me to keep playing football and tried to keep me focused. But it was almost impossible to.

“I told her I was fine all the time. But people didn't see what I was going through behind the closed doors. She’s cancer-free now so she's doing well.