Falkirk defender Leon McCann admits 2025 delivered the highest and lowest moments of his life, but he is now approaching the new year with major optimism on and off the pitch.
McCann’s son, Brooks, was born profoundly deaf in March but tests have shown he could be able to hear when fitted with implants.
McCann, 25, said: “Everything’s going great. We think by probably March time, we’re hoping that he’ll have had his operation for his implants and then they do a month of silence, they call it, before they turn the implants on.
“We’re hoping that obviously opens a full new journey for us, for him and ourselves, that we’ll be kind of going back to the start again. So I’m buzzing for that day.
“It’s been a whirlwind of a year. Obviously the best thing that happened in my life was my son being born and then finding out that he was deaf was probably the lowest day of my life.
“And then on the pitch obviously you do well and you win a league.
“So it’s been a whirlwind of a year, plenty of ups and downs. Now we’re on the up again and we’re just hoping that once this operation takes place and hopefully he can hear, then we’ll be starting our own fresh journey and navigating him through life, being able to hear this time.”
McCann and partner Morgan have raised thousands of pounds to help other deaf children through their B Heard charity.
“The charity has been great,” he said. “The help of the fans has been unbelievable. It’s been bigger than we ever thought it could be. We’ve managed to help out 15 families or something already. Our goal was just to help one.”
And on the pitch, McCann is glad to be proving he can cut it in the Premiership with the Bairns, who could move back into the top six with victory at Dundee on Saturday.
“I always believed that I could play at this level,” the former Airdrie left-back said. “I just needed to back it up and prove to people who probably thought I couldn’t.
“I feel like it’s not been that major step up. Obviously you do get select players that you go, wow, they are top, top players.
“But it’s more just a fitness thing as well. For the past couple of years we’ve been used to keeping the ball off teams and letting them try to get it back.
“Now it’s a wee bit different. We’re not getting the ball as much and you’re having to try and work hard to get the ball back and things like that. So you realise the fitness level is a step up.”
[BBC]
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