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Ex-Ireland and Liverpool defender Lawrenson gets the all-clear after cancer scare

The BBC pundit admitted being nervous while he waited to hear the news.

MARK LAWRENSON HAS revealed good news after a scare with cancer. 

Soccer - Sky Bet Championship - Blackburn Rovers v Middlesbrough - Ewood Park 61-year-old Lawrenson. Dave Howarth Dave Howarth

The 61-year-old, who won five league titles, a European Cup and the FA Cup with Liverpool during the 1980s, underwent two operations and had a “cancerous blemish” removed from his face. 

After a nervy wait, however, the former Ireland defender posted on Twitter last night to confirm that it hasn’t spread. 

Soccer - World Cup Qualifier - Group Six - Ireland v Denmark Lawrenson in action for Ireland against Denmark's Michael Laudrup in 1985. EMPICS Sport EMPICS Sport

Lawrenson tweeted: “After three months of outstanding care at both Ormskirk & Whiston Hospitals, I got the news that after two operations and the removal of my facial cancerous blemish the cancer hasn’t spread anywhere. Phew!!

Waiting for the verdict felt like a ‘Sword of Damocles’ moment. Thanks all.”

In his column with the BBC, he revealed that it was a Football Focus viewer that first alerted him to the potential danger.

“Towards the end of last season, the editor of Football Focus received an email from a viewer saying they had seen me on TV and noticed I had a bit of dark skin on the left side of my face,” he wrote.

“Their message was I needed to get rid of it, or at least get it checked out urgently.

“I was already aware of the blemish and was planning to get an appointment about it but, like a typical 60-year-old bloke, I had been putting it off rather than sorting it out.

“That email was the kick up the backside I needed. I went to get it looked at immediately, and it was cancerous so I had it whipped out straight away.

“I would urge anyone with any similar doubts about a mark on their skin not to wait, and to do the same.

“People can be very stubborn and ignorant, thinking ‘well it is not going to happen to me’, but of course it does.”

After making his international debut against Poland at Dalymount Park in 1977, the English-born centre-half went on to win 39 caps for the Boys in Green — scoring five goals. 

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