Sports
Former Cricketer Kenroy Williams Raises Awareness of Male Breast Cancer
Learn about former professional cricketer Kenroy Williams' journey as a breast cancer survivor. He emphasizes the importance of early detection and encourages everyone, including men, to check their breasts regularly.
6 min read
Originally published by www.nationnews.com (opens in new tab)
This month, as the focus is on breast cancer awareness, we bring some stories which were published last year, of breast cancer survivors.
This story was published on October 23, 2022.
Former professional cricketer Kenroy Williams wants men to know that they too, can get breast cancer.
More importantly, he wants them to have their breasts checked and to visit their doctor if they become suspicious of any lumps in their breasts.
Kenroy, 38, who represented Barbados in the Under-15 national cricket team and captained the Barbados Under-19 Cricket Team and the Barbados Senior Cricket Team, knows that he is alive today because he wasted no time in seeking medical attention when he discovered a lump in his breast. Had he paid it no attention, he probably would not be able to share how he overcame breast cancer.
The Harlington, St Philip resident, who also played for the West Indies cricket team back in 2004, and represented Barbados and Jamaica up until 2018 and 2019 respectively, sat down with Easy Magazine to share his journey, after he was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2019. He also spoke of how a chance fall made him aware of his illness.
He told Easy, “I was playing cricket for Jamaica in January 2019. We were playing against Guyana when I fell while diving for a ball. When I fell, I felt a lump in my chest.
Returned to Barbados
“Immediately, I decided to go to the doctor in Jamaica. That doctor recommended that I have a biopsy. However, because I was concerned, I returned to Barbados before the biopsy result was given.”
Kenroy, who was slated to spend eight months in Jamaica, actually came home during the seventh month and decided to have a second biopsy done in Barbados while awaiting the results from Jamaica. Both tests came back positive.
He informed, “Dr Jacqui King was the cricketers’ physiotherapist and I knew about her work and battle with breast cancer. I had contacted her right away on my return and she recommended that I meet with Dr Ian Lewis.”
Within three weeks’ time, Kenroy had surgery (a mastectomy) performed on his left breast to remove the lump.
The father of a teenage daughter took everything in stride. But according to him, it was not an easy road; especially when he started the chemotherapy treatment.
He confessed, “It was very tough. The first round was tough. I was given a round of chemotherapy each week over a four-week period, then 12 rounds over a 12-week period. It was not easy.”
Kenroy also underwent additional rounds to ensure the cancer did not return.
As he recalled his journey, he stressed, “The first four rounds of chemotherapy made me extremely tired. They actually had me sleeping a lot – about two to three days after the treatments.”
The soft-spoken Kenroy spoke of losing his hair two to three weeks after his first round of chemotherapy. As if that was not bad enough, he was subjected to much taunting by those who did not know his health challenges and made fun of his baldness.
