It is around one year since Sandy Jardine was last at Murray Park.
He returned yesterday, to meet with some former team-mates as well as his colleagues among the staff, and the visit alone was significant. He is measuring his recovery from cancer in small steps, so it seemed a significant moment to Jardine. "I'm just surprised how long it's taken," he said.
After doctors first diagnosed that a lump on his throat was cancerous, then found secondary tumours on his liver, Jardine thought that his first operation would result in him spending five days in hospital. Six weeks later, he eventually went home, having spent a period of 12 days in intensive care after developing an infection. "I could have died on any one of those 12 days," he reflected.
Jardine does not wallow in self-pity, and his return to Murray Park was to attend the launch of a tribute dinner at Glasgow's Thistle Hotel on Sunday, October 27, with a donation from the proceeds going to Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre in Edinburgh. He spoke of the importance of the support of his wife, Shona, but also wider family, friends, as well as the Rangers and general football communities.
"One of the reasons I've come through it all was my fitness levels," he said. "It's quite a rare cancer I've got; I got it from a virus, they think. I was in a bed for six weeks and I had to get up and try and walk. I can't speak highly enough of the doctors and the staff. When you get cancer, straight away you think it is a death sentence. It is like anything, you have just got to get on with it and deal with it.
"So many people have said to me 'you have to be positive', so it is about trying to have a positive attitude. Sometimes it is difficult, but I have tried to be positive all the time. When I came out of hospital after six weeks, there must have been over 1000 letters from people; and not just from Rangers supporters. They came from all over the world. I was so grateful for every single one.
"The supporters have been fantastic and I thought it was appropriate to thank them over the Tannoy [at Ibrox two weeks ago]. When they were chanting and clapping on the two-minute mark, it gave me a lift. You are not Superman and it definitely helped me."
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