Polish volleyball player dies at 26 from rare disease

Polish volleyball player Jakub Prokanin has died at the age of 26 from a rare cancer, sport.wprost.pl reports.

“Our captain and greatest warrior has died. We will never forget you. Rest in peace. Condolences to the entire family,” the Gamrat-Mosir club, for which he previously played, said in a statement.

At the age of 15, an athlete living in the city of Jaslo began to complain of pain in his left elbow, later, when he played in the second league, the symptoms worsened.

My arm was in unbearable pain, I almost passed out from the pain. I was sent for examination. For six months I went to different doctors, looking for the cause of the disease. There was rehabilitation, ultrasound, MRI. At some point, I was given a steroid injection, which made the situation worse,” he noted several years ago.

As it turned out, the man was struggling with synovial sarcoma, the doctors had to amputate his arm.

– Amputation allowed to live a few more years. Romantic moments with my girlfriend, sports emotions on the volleyball court, joy in the eyes of loved ones from the fact that I am still here, the volleyball player said earlier.

Prokanin had previously been close to moving to a Polish Premier League club, the article says.