FCK legend Hellström is terminally ill with cancer

Former world-class goalkeeper Ronnie Hellström (72) from 1. FC Kaiserslautern claims to be terminally ill with cancer.

The first symptoms appeared a year ago. “I had difficulty swallowing and keeping the food with me,” Hellström said in an interview with the Swedish tabloid Quickdraws: “In retrospect you understood that it was because of the cancer.”

The newspaper reported that a malignant tumor was blocking the esophagus of the former Swedish international. In addition, he was worried about a blood clot in his lungs, and the inflammation in an intestinal pocket almost cost him his life. He is now encountering one day after the other and one treatment after the next, said Hellström.

Hellström is considered to be one of the best goalkeepers in the history of Sweden: in 1974 he was fifth in the World Cup with the Scandinavians, for whom he played 77 international matches, and in 1971 and 1978 he was voted Footballer of the Year in his home country. For FCK he was used 266 times in the Bundesliga. Today Hellström lives in southern Sweden.