Christoph Daum only knows one tactic to fight his lung cancer. The 69-year-old former Bundesliga coach made that clear in an interview with broadcaster RTL.
“It’s an absolute pressing situation,” said Daum. “Put pressure on the opponent, on the opposing cells, on the cancer cells. Go for it and don’t let them rest. Instead, fight until they are worn down, until they give up and until they retreat and disappear.” Or at least that he is in control of his body and his life, emphasized the football teacher.
He was diagnosed with lung cancer during a routine check-up last summer. “The moment you hear you have cancer, it’s like a death sentence for you,” Daum recalled in the interview.
He couldn’t believe it at the time, he emphasized and reported that he felt so fit at the time and had a lung volume of five liters.
“I had to fight again and again”
Daum also shared what it was like when he asked his wife to shave his hair after he started chemotherapy. At first she refused. After he said that she did the same with the dog, she also shaved it, and then she agreed.
According to the report, Daum exercises three to four times a week. “I had to fight again and again. I always had an opponent or an enemy. The next game you had to beat the opponent, only now I have the opponent in my body,” he said, explaining what his main goal was now : “To become a sensible grandfather. That is my challenge.”