Former Newcastle United star Tommy Cassidy has been suffering from Alzheimer's disease since 2017.
Cassidy, who served the Magpies for a decade between 1970 and 1980, loved the North East so much he stayed in the region after retiring and remained a huge United fan long after hanging up his boots.
The ex-Northern Ireland international - who played at the World Cup in 1982 and starred alongside George Best in his career - went on to manage Gateshead in the Vauxhall Conference and had stints at Newcastle Blue Star, Blyth Spartans and Workington in the managerial hotseat.
In more recent times, he was a big supporter of the Chronicle's Sunshine Fund charity and penned regular columns for the newspaper while also setting up a player of the season award with Planet Trophies of Killingworth.
Belfast-born Tommy presented the awards to stars like Rob Elliot and Yohan Cabaye.
At 70, Cassidy was fit before suffering from the brain disorder which is getting "progressively worse" according to his wife Rosemary who has been speaking to the Belfast Telegraph.
Mrs Cassidy also stated that Cassidy now has a "very short memory span", with the pandemic adding increased worry to the family in what is described as a "heartbreaking battle" for one of Newcastle's greats.
As the years go by, the worrying condition of players who headed leather balls during their careers is on the increase.
In 2017, Newcastle legend Alan Shearer spoke about the links between heading and dementia on a BBC Sport documentary.
He said: "What touched me the most was meeting retired players, and their relatives, who are living with dementia.
"It made me realise that this is a horrific disease that does not just affect those who have it, but the people around them too."
During better times, Cassidy sat down with the Chronicle to talk about scoring against Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby in 1980.
He said: “I scored in this fixture on New Year’s Day 1980 and I have lived on it ever since.
“In truth everywhere I have gone people ask me about it.
“It’s probably got me 40,000 pints of beer!
“Even when I sit on my own at times I look back and reflect on it.
“In my day it was the biggest game out there for Newcastle.”
