Mark Farren battling back to fitness

In news which is sure to warm the hearts of Derry City fans everywhere, Mark Farren is actively fighting his way back to fitness.

The 33-year-old (pictured) is taking weekly sessions in local gym, BLAST Bootcamp, as he attempts to build his strength up before he goes abroad for the next stage in his treatment against a grade four brain tumour.

Mark and wife Terri-Louise travelled to Tijuana, Mexico earlier this year where he endured extensive treatment after which followed a long period of recovery, which included daily chiro, weekly acupuncture and a strict diet.

But ahead of another testing trip abroad next month, Mark has taken the initiative in an attempt to build his strength, and he has spent the past few weeks rebuilding his fitness with short sessions in BLAST.

There has been some success from Mark’s treatment in recent months, but as wife Terri-Louise explains, there is still a long battle ahead.

“He’s getting on okay,” she said. “He had a scan there recently at the start of September and that showed that from June until now nothing has grown and nothing has changed and that’s all we could hope for.

“The biggest part of Mark’s treatment he hasn’t got yet. He has to get the vaccine and that’s the thing that will hopefully do the damage to the tumour, so fingers crossed we can get him fit now and see where that takes us after that.”

With treatment for the vaccine requiring five monthly trips abroad, the Farrens are attempting to switch the location to ease the toll the travelling will take on Mark.

Terri-Louise added: “We’re trying to move it from Mexico to Germany. Mexico is so far and although the rules are different there they do have a sister clinic in Germany, so if all is well, we’re hoping to go to Germany in the next month or so.”

The weekly sessions at BLAST are a positive step for Mark, and Terri-Louise revealed that it was her husband who expressed a desire to get fit once again.

“Mark has to build the power up in the right hand side of his body,” she said. “He knows himself that getting the vaccine will take a lot out of him so he needed to be the fittest he can be so he can cope with the vaccine. This is why he’s trying.

“He has been fit all his life but he finds it hard and debilitating that he can’t do it and he just decided that he wanted to come back and get a bit of fitness behind him.”