Sol Bamba’s battle against cancer was “never a fair fight” said his wife in a heartbreaking tribute to the former Premier League footballer, who has passed away aged 39.
The former Cardiff and Leeds centre-back was working at Adanaspor as technical director and the Turkish club announced that he died on Saturday night, leaving the world of football mourning a player described by broadcaster Jeff Stelling as “just one of the nicest men I have ever met”.
Bamba was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2021 while at Cardiff, but was declared cancer-free after a course of chemotherapy and returned to play again for the Welsh club and for Middlesbrough.
“For the last few years I have watched Sol fight his cancer head on with an astounding mental and physical strength and stoicism,” wrote his wife Chloe on Instagram. “Unfortunately, it was never a fair fight and just when things were looking up he took a downturn and finally succumbed on 31 August.
“These years have been indescribably difficult but we still managed to find joy and laughter in it. I’ve experienced my worst days but also some of my best. Sol accepted his fate as God’s will and left this earth knowing, without a shadow of a doubt, that he was loved wholeheartedly. I made sure of that.
“It was an honour to have loved and been loved by Sol. I learnt so much from him. He is my hero. My heart is breaking. What a gift, what a gift, what a gift to have been loved by him.”
