The SJA sends it best wishes for a speedy recovery after surgery to member Martin Kelner, the self-proclaimed “second banana” in the Association’s presentation team at our recent awards events.
He needs a speedy recovery: he’s expected to provide the round-the-tables interviews at our 2013 British Sports Awards being staged at the Pavilion at the Tower of London on December 12…
Kelner is at the St James’s Hospital in Leeds, after a spell in intensive care following the removal of a tumour. None of which has stopped him writing his column for the Racing Post (his regular slot on the local radio station has provided more difficulty in fulfilling).
Kelner’s brother, Simon Kelner, the former editor-in-chief at The Independent, reported on his visit to the hospital bedside in his own newspaper column: “Two weeks ago, he had an operation to remove a tumour, the size of which was, according to him, ‘like a Marks & Spencer spatchcock chicken with a Black Forest gateau for two’. (They removed the sarcoma, but left the sarcasm).
“He was in intensive care for some time, and even now, in a general ward at the magnificent St James’s Hospital in Leeds, he’s attached to various tubes and pipes. I visited him yesterday, and couldn’t believe what he told me. Yes, he was in terrible agony and couldn’t sleep. Yes, he’d had loads of new tests and scans. And yes, he’d written his column.
“What? It’s true. He was in bed with liquid morphine dulling the pain, and had filed a characteristically humorous piece about online betting while in a hospital bed. I couldn’t have been more awestruck. Of course, this does not rank in the pantheon of acts of journalistic heroism.
“But, for this reason and many others beside, he’s a hero to me.”
Get well soon, Martin.
UPCOMING SJA EVENTS
Thu Dec 12: SJA 2013 British Sports Awards. Venue and ticket booking details to be announced soon