Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme in remission after leukaemia fight
Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme has announced that he is in remission after battling leukaemia for almost a year.
The Nigerian shot-stopper was diagnosed back in July last year after he returned abnormal results on a blood test taken for pre-season training.
But he announced on social media today that he was in remission and thanked friends and family for their support.
He said: "After a tough year and intense chemotherapy throughout I would like to let everyone know I am in complete remission. I still have hurdles to get over to be cured but I can hopefully now move forward with some normality.
"I would like to thank my family/friends to start with who have gone above and beyond for me. The support I have received from Wolves/Nigeria, the football world and from people all over the world has been hard to put into words.
"I can't thank everyone at the Christies and heartlands hospital enough for their care! What's next who know....I'm just taking it a day at a time #grateful #remission."
Since his announcement support has flooded in from across the footballing world.
Wolves captain Danny Batth described the news as 'the best ever'.
Presenter Jacqui Oatley described the news as 'wonderful' while Jordan Graham described it as 'the best thing I've seen in a long time'. Fellow footballer Elliot Bennett said Ikeme was an 'inspiration', adding: "So happy to hear this news."
More than £140,000 has been raised through a Just Giving page for Cure Leukaemia in support of Carl but it is believed that thousands more has been donated to the charity directly in his name.
As reported in March, the money helped the national charity reach the £2million they needed to fund the expansion of the internationally renowned Centre for Clinical haematology at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
Charity Cure Leukaemia said they were 'delighted' that Carl was in remission and wished him the very best.
Wolves fans received a special thanks for helping the charity achieve a record breaking year.
An army of fans have taken on a variety of fundraising challenges to raise money since he was diagnosed.
A 24-hour penalty shoot-out was held at the Molineux to raise money for the goalkeeper last summer which was kicked off by Wolves legend Steve Bull.
This was followed by a family fun day in September during the football international break.
An auction of paintings of Wolves players by artist Louise Cobbold was held in April, 30 Wolves staff ran the The Wolf Run, and supporter Finlay Crowe walked more than 200 miles from his home in Brighton to Molineux in six days - all in the name of the player.
