Former Louth footballer Derek Shevlin is enjoying life to the full after twice beating cancer.

The 35-year-old, who lined out for the Wee County between 2000 and 2006, has made a full recovery and has forced his way back into the Dreadnots senior club team.

Having recovered from testicular cancer in 2008, the ex-Louth star received more bad news three years later:

"I was determined I wouldn't be beaten by cancer and I would give up the football when I decided to and not before then," he says in The Irish Daily Mirror.

"In November 2011, one week after captaining the Dreadnots to only our second ever senior league appearance, I got the devastating news the cancer had returned. I was in total shock. I was playing away and felt great.

"It had spread to the back of my tummy. Things were different this time, it was a bit more serious. What lay ahead was months of chemotherapy treatment.

"At 32 most people, if not all, thought I had finally played my last game with the team. I was determined to get back to the best level of fitness I could."

Derek and his cousin Aidan Shevlin - who is also a cancer survivor - will both play in a special charity GAA match in O'Moore Park, Portlaoise on Bank Holiday Monday.

They will be part of a team comprised exclusively of players who have survived cancer, with all money raised going to the cancer units in St Luke's and St James's Hospitals. Tweet

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