Packie Bonner Warns 'Don't Ignore The Red!'
Ireland's Italia '90 hero Packie Bonner has teamed up with the Marie Keating Foundation to help raise awareness of bladder cancer and to urge everyone - don't ignore the red!
The man who made the most iconic save in Irish sporting history, in the famous World Cup penalty shootout against Romania, hopes that the campaign will help save lives.
"I was actually shocked that there was so little awareness of this particular cancer," Bonner told 98FM's Stephen Doyle in Dublin this afternoon.
Approximately 450 people in Ireland are diagnosed with bladder cancer every year with men four times more likely to get the disease than women, a point the former Irish goalkeeper was keen to highlight.
"More men than women get affected with this," Bonner added.
"We're really, really poor in looking after ourselves at times. We neglect ourselves. The whole message is...if you have blood in your urine, go and get it checked.
"It may not [be] cancer of course, we all know that. But if you don't go and get it checked...if you get it checked and you do have [bladder cancer] you can be very healthy, you can get cured very, very quickly.
"But if you leave it, then you could be in trouble. So that's the key message."
Aside from blood in the urine, other symptoms include changes in urination frequency and painful urination and CEO of the Marie Keating Foundation Liz Yates also urged men not to ignore them.
"Bladder cancer is on the increase in Ireland with 450 new cases identified every year. As men over a certain age can be more inclined to ignore signs and symptoms of diseases, we felt it was important to be proactive and do something about the lack of bladder cancer awareness in Ireland."
For more information on bladder cancer, its symptoms and to understand the risk factors click here to check out the Marie Keating Foundation website