'Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins' contestant Kieron Dyer needs a liver transplant after being diagnosed with a rare disease.
Kieron Dyer
The Ipswich Town FC Under 23s manager has faced liver problems over the last few years and has now been diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a disease which attacks the liver's bile ducts.
In a statement, Ipswich Town said: "Kieron has been managing problems with his liver for the past couple of years, and now requires a transplant. The best wishes of everyone at Ipswich Town Football Club remain with Kieron and his family. We reiterate our request that everyone respects Kieron’s wishes in privacy for him and his family."
However, the former England footballer is determined to keep his spirits up and has described his medical emergency as a "minor setback".
Opening up about the ordeal himself, he said: "Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with a condition of the liver a couple of years ago, that would lead to me one day needing a transplant.
"Over the next week, test results will confirm when I need to go through this procedure. I see myself as a very positive person that will overcome this minor setback.
"I’m very grateful to the Club, the supporters and the general public for their messages of support over the past week. I would like to ask everyone now to respect my privacy, and my family’s privacy."
It comes as Dyer, 42, had to pull out of gruelling reality show 'Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins' back in September when he suffered a punctured lung.
At the time, he said: "I started screaming with the pain. My body shut down, my body was just breaking down and that was the end for me. I got taken to hospital and my broken rib had punctured my lung and it had collapsed. I just couldn’t breathe and then that’s when I keeled over. I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve been that breathless before,” he says. you’re just gasping for air. It’s like you’re being strangled, or you’re drowning."