Matt L’s story

I was at the pinnacle of the sport that I take part in. In my case it is Touch Football refereeing, and I had just been appointed to the biggest game in the world. In the last few years, I had been experiencing worrying bowel symptoms that continued to concern me (bleeding and changes). In addition to this my brother had recently discovered a benign tumour on his bowel through a series of fortunate events. All of this left me with a strong gut feeling that there was more to my situation, and because the symptoms had not gotten better with haemorrhoid treatment (as that is what my specialist and I believed it was).

The next step was a colonoscopy and more aggressive treatment of haemorrhoids, which I knew would give us more information about the situation and should there be anything more significant to deal with it should be obvious. Neither my specialist or I thought we would get the finding we did.

I still remember the look on his face telling me the news. It was clear I had late state bowel cancer and following further tests it revealed Stage 3b.

The next process was quick, with those tests and also the surgery to remove the cancer through a bowel resection. Unfortunately, I suffered a twisted bowel and other complications following the surgery.

Going into the surgery I had been readying myself that I didn’t know what the future held. I also realised that all the training I had done for refereeing, building resilience, was actually training for this moment.

Quite early in my recovery from the complications, where I lost over 20 kg and became a shell of myself, I realised I wanted to keep going with my touch football journey and so I started doing what physical training I needed to get back to refereeing. Part of this was just a personal challenge to see if I could actually get back to a level I was happy with. I didn’t know what that would be when I started out.

I just knew I wasn’t done. It was also just a way of saying to myself that I need to keep doing fitness and contribute to the community because I clearly survived to this point for a reason.

It was not lost on me that it would also be an inspirational story for others to follow and I have regularly been reached out to for help in coaching others through how to face either the same or some type of adversity in their life.

After rebuilding my fitness, quite quickly if I admit because I knew what was required through all the previous focused training, I went on to referee the pinnacle touch football event in SEQ over the next 3 months. Often the same week I had chemo, and the fitness actually helped me through chemo.

I finished the season in November while still on chemo, refereeing the men’s open final. A funny moment in that game was, a young player and I were running back to halfway after a Try and they commented ‘I am glad you are breathing heavy too’ to which I replied ‘I finished chemo yesterday, what is your excuse, with a smirk.

Since that date and completing chemo, I have gone on to return to my elite level of national and international refereeing, including finishing within the top 12 of international referees at the 2024 world cup. I have also maintained my position in the National Referee Squad reserved for the top performing leaders in the Australian referee space, along with my position as an elite referee in QLD SEQ. Winning the 2024 Redlands Coast Official of the Year, a finalist for the 2023 and 2025 QLD Touch Football Referee of the Year, along with again a finalist for the 2025 Redlands Coast Official of the Year.

My one piece of advice:

Trust your instinct with your health. Talk to your mates and family, no matter how awkward the conversations. Talk to your doctor or specialist, and if your gut doesn’t feel right with the response, have another conversation.

Do not downplay any symptoms. That is our natural response, especially as blokes, so have an honest conversation and be open to whatever path the conversation takes. Sometimes it isn’t that bad, but when it is, that conversation is the one that saves your life.