Every morning, at approximately 9am, Dylan Tombides rises from bed, makes his way to the bathroom, and gazes into the mirror.
Reflected back at him is a prominent, 12-inch scar stretching from the center of his chest down to his navel.
This triggers a series of flashbacks for the 18-year-old Australian, transporting him to the moment when his life began to unravel.
Having already established himself as a regular goal-scorer for the reserves, Tombides was eagerly anticipating the pre-season training with the Hammers’ first team, following his participation with the Joeys in the Under 17 World Cup in Mexico the previous summer.
While enjoying a few days in Cancun with his father, he received the phone call that would shatter his world.
A random drugs test, conducted after his team lost 4-0 to Uzbekistan, revealed a tumor on one of his testicles.
At just 17, with a promising future ahead of him and having already been on the bench for a Premier League match, Tombides was paralyzed with fear. He turned to his father, Jimmy, and asked, “Dad, could this kill me?” His face turned pale.
“I was just 17, a young man who had never had any experience with cancer,” he remarked during a conversation at the family home, a short distance from West Ham’s training facility. “My only thoughts were about getting into the West Ham team and passing my driving test.
“I didn’t fully grasp the gravity of the situation at the time,” he explained. “All I ever dreamed of was becoming a top professional footballer with West Ham.
“It was only after receiving the call in Cancun that the seriousness of my condition truly hit me. Upon returning to England, I underwent blood tests and CT scans, and they informed me that I needed to have a testicle removed right away.”
His thoughts were consumed with the desire to return to the football field, rejoining the Hammers in their promotion pursuit and scoring goals once more.
He underwent a 45-minute procedure, but that was only the beginning. For weeks, Tombides remained at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, cycling in and out of consciousness while his mother, Tracylee, father, and younger brother Taylor, who is also part of the West Ham setup, kept vigil at his bedside.
On some days, Tombides found himself in the hospital, connected to chemotherapy lines for seven hours, with tubes attached that made it difficult for him to move.
“I’d wake up for just 15 minutes and feel completely drained. They would administer anti-sickness medication, and I would think I had only vomited a few times that night.
“Then Mum would glance at me and correct me—it was actually closer to seven or eight times.
“There were moments when I’d look at Mum and say, ‘I don’t want the chemo anymore; I’ll just live with the cancer.’ That’s how I felt sometimes.”
He faced yet another surgery after doctors detected a blood clot in his abdomen and cancer cells in his lymph nodes.
“I spent 11 days in the hospital following that, and it was far from pleasant. I woke up to find a large scar and couldn’t engage my core muscles for weeks.
“My only wish was to play football again, but there was an abundance of scar tissue that required caution. I devoted a lot of time to the exercise bike or swimming training.”
Now brimming with enthusiasm, he is reveling in his newfound freedom and football after returning to training this week. He is scheduled for another nine monthly blood tests before receiving the all-clear, a milestone highlighted in the family diary as he looks forward to a squad number under Sam Allardyce next season.
He mentioned, “It’s been a lengthy journey, but all I’ve ever wanted was to play football again.”
by Buford Balony
