Former Manchester United and Scotland forward Denis Law has revealed that he has been diagnosed with mixed dementia.
Law, 81, is one of the most renowned footballers of his time. He is best known for the eleven years he spent playing for Manchester United from 1962 to 1973, where he scored 237 goals in 404 appearances.
He is the only Scottish footballer to have won the prestigious Ballon d’Or award.
In a statement released on Thursday, Law said he wanted to be “open about his condition” and that he had been diagnosed with mixed dementia, which he explained as “being more than one type of dementia, in my (Law’s) case this being Alzheimers and Vascular Dementia”.
Law’s statement continued that it is “an incredibly challenging and problematic disease and I have witnessed many friends go through this”.
The statement read: “You hope that it won’t happen to you, even make jokes about it whilst ignoring the early signs because you don’t want it to be true. You get angry, frustrated, confused, and then worried, worried for your family, as they will be the ones dealing with it. However, the time has come to tackle this head-on, excuse the pun. I recognise how my brain is deteriorating and how my memory evades me when I don’t want it to and how this causes me distress in situations that are beyond my control. I do understand what is happening and that is why I want to address my situation now whilst I am able because I know there will be days when I don’t understand and I hate the thought of that right now. At the height of the pandemic I said I hoped that if one positive was to come out of it, it would be that it would make people kinder to each other, so that’s what I am hoping for now. I don’t want people to be saddened if I forget places, people or dates because you need to remember I enjoyed all those memories and I am lucky to have experienced what I have in my life…a loving and supportive family, a great career doing what I loved and getting paid to do it and lifelong friends. I have good days and bad days and aim to take each day as it comes adjusting my lifestyle accordingly. I hung up my football boots a long time ago and now it’s time to put my signing days behind me too, so apologies to anyone who has sent me anything but I am just not able to. I am trying to be positive and determined to continue watching my club, Manchester United at Old Trafford, hopefully, this will be a season of success and I am excited by the new signings that Ole (Gunnar Solskjaer) and the club have made.”