I thought I tore a hamstring playing football before I had life-saving surgery

A MAN thought he pulled a hamstring playing football before he was diagnosed with a rare cancer and had life-saving surgery.

Adrian Owens, who used to play for Newcastle Emlyn, first noticed a knot on his right hamstring in December 2020 – but didn’t think much of it.

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“I train a lot but I thought I just ruptured a muscle or discarded it as a cyst,” said the 36-year-old from Swansea Wales Online.

But the bump got bigger and Adrian’s fiancé Shan, who is a personal trainer, asked him to see a doctor.

He did a biopsy and was told he had sarcoma, a rare type Cancer growing in connective tissue.

“I didn’t know what to think. When we left surgery I went to the gym on my bike, I went running and I went swimming in a local lake. I just didn’t know what else to do.

“When you hear the C-word, you don’t want to talk about it”.

Adrian first underwent five weeks of radiation therapy before undergoing 11-hour surgery on his leg.

The surgeons had to cut about 80% of his hamstring and transplant some skin from his back.

Luckily, the treatment was successful and he wanted to return to the endurance sports he took up after quitting soccer.

He finished his first half of the Iron Man event just after the third week of radiation therapy treatment.

“I asked a nurse for advice on whether it would be harmful to me and she said it wouldn’t happen, but I could fight,” he explained.

“But I did it and completed it in five hours and 40 minutes.”

He is now training for another half Ironman at Fishguard in June and then for his biggest challenge yet, a full Ironman at Tenby in September.

Adrian says he now wants to raise awareness about sarcoma and make people understand the importance of staying positive.

“A Positive Mindset”

“People would feel a little insecure about talking about cancer around me, but I’m very confident now,” he said.

“I’ve spoken to people who are living with cancer and I’m telling them about my experiences and the importance of having a positive attitude and being fit and active.”

Shan, inspired by her future husband, is Accept 11 challenges over the coming months, including triathlons, to raise money for the South Wales Sarcoma Service and Sarcoma UK charities.

Adrian said he was grateful for his trip and wouldn’t change a thing even if he could.

“When people ask me if I would turn back the clock, I don’t think I would.”

“The whole experience made me appreciate life so much more.”

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