Sounds as if it was pretty much the same as an interview that was published in The Times today.
Leukaemia puts points deductions and FA Cup fixtures in perspective, says Coventry City’s Carl Baker
Coventry City have had to put up with a turbulent time over the last few seasons, culminating in a ten-point deduction from Sky Bet League One in a campaign where they have been forced to play home matches at Northampton Town’s Sixfields Stadium.
But the team’s hardship is nothing compared to what Carl Baker, their captain, has been through on a personal level after losing Michael, his elder brother, to leukaemia four years ago and watching Dean, his younger brother, bravely fight back from the illness.
It is why Baker, the effervescent midfielder, will look for inspiration from above as the 1987 winners look to produce another shock against Arsenal in Friday’s FA Cup fourth round at the Emirates Stadium, even though he rationalises the challenge ahead.
“Leukaemia puts it all into perspective – even when you lose a game,” he said. “Sometimes you can go home and be absolutely devastated at losing but then you think about what some people are going through.
“I always have my own little ritual that I always do before the game, saying a couple of prayers and asking Michael to look over me and help me through the game, help me chip in with a goal or help us get a result.
“I do that all the time and I have done since the day he passed away.
“I want to do him proud, I know he’s looking down over me so every time I set foot on the pitch I want to be able to do him proud.
“My younger brother Dean got diagnosed with leukaemia when he was 16 and he had chemotherapy and blood transfusion for three years.
"So that was really difficult, at 16 years old he should be in school doing his GCSEs and he had to come out and miss all that.
"But fair play to him now he’s got a full-time job, he’s just got engaged, he’s got the all clear last year. He’s 21 now.
“He’s had to have a hip operation because the chemotherapy has worn most of his bone down in his hip so he still has difficult times, a 21-year-old boy should be playing football with me down the park, not getting hip surgeries and stuff.”
Baker, an avid supporter of charities, is helping the fight against leukaemia and even supported a Coventry follower who succumbed recently to the illness.
“I went to the funeral of a young Coventry fan who passed away just after Christmas and I was really close to his family,” he said. “I’ve seen both sides of it, the joy of Dean getting through it and the heartbreak of it all going wrong with Michael so I can relate to families.
“It’s nice for me just to be able to get involved in it, and if I can do certain little bits just to help them out – by raising money or speaking to them – that’s the least I can do.
“Hopefully everyone will keep behind the cause and they will get a cure for it.”
Baker, a 31-year-old Liverpudlian, still finds football matters important too and feels the fans’ pain at having to play home games 35 miles down the M1, after talks with owners of the Ricoh Arena broke down in the summer.
“I’ve got a lot of close friends who are Coventry fans and some of them still don’t go to the games,” he said. “I can understand it; I support Liverpool and I wouldn’t like to go and watch them play anywhere else apart from Anfield.
“I can totally see that they don’t want the club going out of the city and I think it’s important to get something resolved sooner rather than later. The last thing you want to do is miss a generation of fans who are not going to be taken there because their parents and uncles think it’s wrong.”
