AT the age of 44, Danny Sculthorpe has seemingly been through it all.
Diagnosed with diabetes as a teenager, Sculthorpe was forced into early retirement after serious injury whilst the former prop succumbed to sepsis three times following operations.
Almost dying on each occasion, the 44-year-old made it back on his feet, but, following retirement, he has spent a considerable amount of time in hospital since being diagnosed with a brain tumour back in 2020.
Not only will Sculthorpe be undergoing surgery to remove that next year, he will also be having major back surgery in a bid to alleviate a spinal problem.
“I’ve been told I need major back surgery on my spinal discs which is going to be a big operation,” Sculthorpe told Total RL.
“I’m having that done next year. It’s something I’ve been struggling with even though they might have to fuse two discs.
“That will massively affect my performance, I will be stiff but I don’t know if I can get any more stiff!
“I’m also having my brain tumour removed next year which is going to be a major operation but the seizures that I’m having massively out-risk the operation that I will be having. That being said, if they go a millimetre either way it could affect me speaking ever again.
“The seizures that I am having are causing a lot more damage and problems now. My memory is shot to pieces now and I can’t remember in the evening what I have done in the morning.
“It also affects my emotions in my frontal lobe, so I can go to 0-100 quite quickly and I can get upset quite easily. I’ve always been like that to be honest, being an emotional person but they said I could have had this tumour 20 years and that could have been the reason why.”
Sculthorpe went on to describe how he was first diagnosed with the tumour back in 2020 and the events leading up to that harrowing news.
“It was 2020 when I was diagnosed. I went out for a run, I ran past a college and I felt like I had been shot with a drug, I felt so weird,” he said.
“I got a really bad smell in my nose, it smelt like beach or chlorine and then I lost where I was for about 10-15 seconds. I ended up finishing the run but for two days running I had seizures.
“About five or six months leading up to the first seizure, I work with Phil Veivers at the State of Mind mental health charity, we were wellbeing and lifestyle coaches at the NHS at the time.
“I kept ringing him up at night and he would say ‘you’ve rang me four times tonight’ but I couldn’t remember ringing him. I joked to him saying ‘I’m sure I’ve got a brain tumour, I can’t remember anything’.
“I went to see my GP a few weeks later and they sent me for a scan, but I didn’t hear anything for four or five weeks.
“I then went into Salford Royal Hospital with my back, I was in absolute agony and couldn’t get out of the bath. I was on my own during Covid.
“The surgeons asked about previous medical history and I mentioned the scan on my brain. The doctor went and checked and next thing I knew, three consultants came in and said that I have got a brain rumour and I was like ‘wow’.
“It wasn’t bad news at the time because as men we can cope with good or bad news but not knowing, I couldn’t cope with that.
“They said it was benign and treatable and that I would be ok. The doctor spoke to me for 20 minutes, but I told her that I wouldn’t be able to remember a thing so they rang my wife and she found out. I’ve been seeing specialists ever since.”
So what has the impact on Sculthorpe’s family been and how has Danny himself coped?
“I had a specialist meeting on December 22 and they decided to cut it out which is good news because my tumour will be out. It won’t make my memory any better but it won’t stop my memory getting any worse.
“As a family we are used to it, you know what we went through when I was playing, I was forced into retirement.
“I’ve had sepsis three times and it nearly killed me every time. My wife is unbelievable, she is the rock in our family and is so tough and looks after us all.
“It’s been tough at times but at the end of the day I now speak about controlling the controllables so now I only worry about things I can control.
“I couldn’t do anything about my back or my brain tumour until I saw someone. I used to worry an stress about contracts coming to an end, my diabetes, catching sepsis after surgery but I can’t do anything about it. It’s massively helped me with my mental health.”
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