Macleod is still on the ball and looking to future after horror illness
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TWO-year-old Lachlan Macleod comes running into his uncle’s house but does not recognise the man standing before him.Seemingly stunned by the change in his uncle’s appearance, it is only when Ally Macleod speaks that the youngster is put at ease.
For the last three years Ally has battled myelofibrosis, which has seen him lose 22kg, along with his hair — but most importantly not his spirit.
He fell ill in Aberdeen in March 2011 but no one could find what was wrong. A day later he was admitted to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness but again there was no diagnosis. It was not until September that year, when he had further tests, that he was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a rare form of leukaemia, where the fibre inside your bones grows bigger and destroys your stem cells.
"The biggest symptoms are tiredness and a stabbing pain in your bones. You get some stomach pain and an enlarged spleen, which causes your stomach to shrink and means you lose weight," said Macleod. "The exhaustion means you can’t exercise as much and your bones are sore. It’s a very rare condition and it’s one that few people in the UK have.
"The main thing I couldn’t do was exercise. I would play a game of golf and be sore for two or three days. I’m very fortunate as they treated me early. Those who have to wait can become very ill and end up being housebound.
"It was very frustrating. I always remember during the last six months at Nairn County I would come home on a Saturday night absolutely knackered after coaching for the day."
After he was diagnosed the 33-year-old asked his brother and sister to get tested to see whether they would be a match for a stem cell transplant. Luckily for Macleod his brother Lawrence was an identical match.
"I’m really fortunate because lots of people don’t have donors and don’t know where they’re going to get one from," he said. "I had to explain to my family what was going to happen. It was very difficult and probably the hardest thing I’ve had to do but I’m very lucky I’ve got a really close family.
"As I had a donor before it was confirmed that I needed a transplant, it made the situation a lot easier. I’m really thankful to my brother and family for standing by me."
While on various forms of medication, Macleod continued in his role as Les Fridge’s right-hand man at Nairn County — a position he had held for the previous four years.
In June 2013 his transplant team at the Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow told him they wanted to do the transplant in the next six months. He was told that without having a donor he had four years to live.
At the turn of the year, following an emotional family meal in Kinlochbervie, Macleod made his way down to Glasgow to begin his treatment. He was checked into hospital and had three sessions of intensive chemotherapy a day for six days.
"I was ok right up until Boxing Day. I’d cooked dinner for my brother and his family, my sister and my dad," he said. "There were 14 of us at the dinner table and I was leaving that day for Inverness, before I went on to Glasgow on New Year’s Day.
"The emotions started to run then because I knew what I would have to go through. I was fine as soon as I got into hospital and it probably wasn’t until the chemo took effect when I started to get a bit emotional. I had chemo three times a day to wipe out my immune system and kill my stem cells, before they introduced my brother’s stem cells into my body."
The transplant itself was a two-stage process. Lawrence had his stem cells extracted on the 8th January for his younger brother to receive them the following day. Offshore worker Lawrence had been strong for Ally during the whole process but he knows the gravity of what he did. Right the way up to the point of giving the stem cells he was fine. He probably felt a bit responsible and still does, but I can understand where he’s coming from. At the end of the day, he saved my life," said Macleod.
"Once the cells were in, he left the hospital and went into the car park with my mum and his fiancée. They said he was quite emotional.
"It took about 40 minutes. When people talk about a transplant they think about cutting you open, but it wasn’t like that. It was a drip that fed the main valve into my heart and the stem cells got dripped in. It was a really strange experience.
"Medicine is crazy. They allowed my brother’s stem cells to go to sleep while the chemo was still kicking in and two weeks later they gave me an injection into my stomach which woke my brother’s stem cells up. To me that’s absolutely crazy. How do they even know about that? Who thought about it?
"I always remember day eight after the transplant, speaking to people who had just come in telling them it wasn’t that bad. The next morning I woke up and I was bed-ridden for about two weeks and in a really bad place. My blood counts and platelets had dropped to zero, so I didn’t have an immune system. I still don’t have much of one now.
"Concentration was a big thing. For someone who loves football, I never once watched Match of the Day while I was in hospital. I couldn’t watch TV, I just couldn’t concentrate on anything. I couldn’t pick up a book. I couldn’t text people. When my sister came to visit me she spent the whole day replying to texts from my phone because I couldn’t focus on it.
"I was out in five weeks and two days, which was five weeks earlier than expected, and I was allowed to head straight back to Inverness."
The support he received throughout the process from colleagues, football clubs and family, has been second-to-none, which Macleod is only too happy to acknowledge.
He has been off work for a year from his job as a national fleet account manager for Volvo Trucks and left Nairn officially on 12th May. The free time, in between hospital appointments, has allowed him to make strides in his coaching career.
A former under-19 manager with Brora Rangers, Macleod recently sat his UEFA A License course, which he says is 95 per cent complete. "I got on with it, kept working and stayed involved in football, which kept me going," he said.
"Football is a bit like an addiction. Once you’re in it you just don’t get out of it. It was a release from all the pressure of working and the illness. I loved my time at Nairn. They’re a great bunch of boys and it’s a very well-run club. Everything is so professional and that’s the way I like it.
"I got a massive amount of support from the club and from the chairman right down to Les Fridge, but I just felt it was time to leave. I hadn’t coached since December."
Those who might question what a young coach like Macleod can offer should not worry. Despite his illness, he strived to take in any game he could. "It’s interesting to see how players at different levels do things," he said. "It’s about gaining experience, meeting different coaches and networking, which is one of the biggest things. Every day is a learning day in football.
"My biggest influence is definitely Les. He’s created an environment where all the players have to do is play football. That’s how I would like my team to be.
"During my time at Nairn, the likes of Steven Mackay, who’s won the league with Brora, was a great professional and a technically outstanding player. Conor Gethins has won the Highland League Player of the Year twice in a row — 108 goals in 108 games and to coach these guys is a privilege. Steven and Conor score excellent goals on a Saturday, but some of the goals they scored in training were unbelievable.
"I picked up quite a bit from speaking to Gary Caldwell on a course last year and John Hughes from Inverness was there at the same time. To see the passion and desire he’s got, you can’t question that. His philosophy is fantastic."
Macleod is on the mend. His hair is growing back, his weight has increased from 59kg to 74kg and he has just moved into a new house in Resaurie Gardens in Smithton, Inverness. To this day, he does not know how he contracted the disease.
He is in contact with clubs about jobs and his ambition is to be a Highland League manager. You could forgive him for lacking confidence after battling illness for such a significant period but Macleod remains unwavered.
"The fact that I’ve gone away and done my coaching badges, which I paid for myself, shows the desire and commitment I’ve got to improve," he said. "The stuff I’ve picked up from Brora and Nairn, plus the four summers I’ve spent down at Largs picking up things from different coaches, bringing all that together is a really good package.
"Both teams I’ve been at have been successful. The biggest thing for me has been to just try and get on with life. I could have waited and hidden, but by that stage you’ve lost three years of your life."
Macleod is already planning work with the Anthony Nolan Trust and Delete Blood Cancer and has been asked to speak to others with the condition. Despite his changing appearance, he has not let that faze him.
"I remember the first time my nephew came running into the house to see me — he had only just turned two," said Macleod. "He came in screaming my name, looked at me and ran back out again. That was quite difficult. It was only when I spoke that he was ok, but he hadn’t seen me like that.
"My hair had started to fall out so I made the decision just to shave it off. It’s slowly growing back, although it’s baby-fine at the moment. It’s a small price to pay for me having the rest of my life to live."
