David Brooks: ‘I wanted to make it clear I wasn’t there for sympathy’

Preparing for his first Wales appearance since being diagnosed with cancer, the winger is aiming to give hope to others

David Brooks walks into a lecture theatre at St Fagans National Museum of History on the outskirts of Cardiff and, back in Wales kit and immersed on camp for the first time since being diagnosed with cancer, it quickly becomes clear he feels there are plenty of chapters still to write and one he is particularly glad to have consigned to the past.

For Brooks, it is just nice to feel like a footballer again. His outlook on the game and life, he says, have probably flipped and these days the simple things bring more pleasure. “It’s nice to be in a team environment,” he says. “When you’re sat at home by yourself – and I did it for six months – it gets depressing and lonely.”

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