SHARING THEIR INCREDIBLE STORY JOE AND CHANTELLE THOMPSON REVEAL HOW THE POWER OF POSITIVITY HAS SEEN THEM BOTH THROUGH THE TOUGHEST OF TIMES

'We appreciate every single day and everything we do together. Gratitude really matters' Joe 

- KIRA RICHARDS

There are smiles, laughter and so much love in every corner of the Thompsons’ Greater Manchester home, where former professional footballer turned motivational speaker Joe and his wife Chantelle live in a renovated farmhouse with their adorable two daughters, 11-year-old Thailula and AthenaRae, who celebrated her first birthday just days before we meet.

Joe, 34, rose to professional acclaim as a footballer in the English Football League (EFL), playing for teams including Rochdale, Bury and Tranmere Rovers. The midfielder has lived and breathed football since his childhood, signing for Manchester United’s youth team aged nine before being released at 16. “Football was everything to me,” he says.

Diagnosed with cancer of the lymphatic system in 2013 aged just 23 and again four years later in 2017, he bravely carried on playing until finally hanging up his boots in 2019.

“I was 23 when I was first diagnosed,” he tells HELLO!. “As a footballer, you pride yourself on your body, that’s your tool. And for me to be told I’ve got cancer and it’s like stage 4 and I’ve probably had it for three to four years – to say it was gutting is an understatement.”

FAMILY OCCASION 

It’s been a whirlwind 12 months for the family after welcoming the baby girl they both dote on. “We’re having a party with the family for Athena’s first birthday,” says Chantelle, a beauty entrepreneur with two businesses under her belt, BBare Cosmetics and Brazilian Booty Lift. “She knows how to say all of our names now and has been walking for the last six or seven weeks.”