Brisbane Lions champion Jonathan Brown has opened up on his recovery from a “ticking time bomb” brain tumour and his family’s emotional reaction.
Brown had surgery in March to remove a low-grade brain tumour after making the scary discovery from a routine scan that turned his life upside down.
The 44-year old sat down with fellow Fox Footy star and good friend Garry Lyon to discuss his experience in an interview set to air on Fox Fox Footy and Kayo Sport at 7.30pm on Tuesday night.
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“Seven weeks ago I was training the house down. You saw me, ‘Gaz’, I was fit as a fiddle and I was shooting the lights out on the golf course. A day later your life changes,” Brown said.
“I didn’t know, I was walking around with a ticking time bomb in my head.
“So it’s a great message for everyone, not just ex-footballers. For everyone.”
Brown and wife Kylie shared a photo on Instagram in March from the triple-premiership Lion’s hospital bed announcing he’d had surgery with a “positive outcome.”
The 256-game great reflected on the emotional response from his three young children, Olivia, Macy and Jack, when he told them about his diagnosis.
“Jack’s 13, little Min is 11 and Olivia is 16,” Brown said.
“Liv’s a bit like me, probably a bit stoic. Jack, even though he’s a bit of a rugby league knockabout, he’s the sensitive one of the family.
“He come and gave me the biggest cuddle I’ve ever copped from anyone. He had tears, he just wouldn’t let go. He squeezed me that tight he nearly snapped me in half.
“The worst thing you want to do in your life is break your kid’s heart. It felt like you were on the precipice. I tell you what, I was ready to fight when I saw their faces after that.”
Brown also recalled a more lighthearted conversion he had with father Brian, a former Fitzroy and Essendon player, when we shared the news.
The two were forced to cancel a trip to the US for the Masters golf tournament last month … though Brian initially held out hope they could still make it!
“The initial phone call, that was hard, too. Because Dad has lost Mum and I have to make that phone call,” Brown said.
“Got to the end of it all, I explained it, I said: ‘Mate, I’m gonna’ have go to Melbourne for surgery. I’ve got a brain tumour’.
“He had to take stock of it and there was a bit of silence on the phone … then he said: ‘What do you reckon, do you reckon we will still make the Masters?’”
Brown is expected to return to Fox Footy TV screens in the coming weeks.
Originally published as ‘Had tears’: Jonathan Brown opens up on emotional family reaction after discovering brain tumour
