5 footballers who beat cancer 

#2 Stiliyan Petrov

Petrov during his days at Aston Villa

Former Bulgarian international and Premier League footballer, Stiliyan Petrov was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2013 and immediately called an end to his career. At the time, the central midfielder was Aston Villa's captain and driving force in the middle of the park.

Petrov was a hard-tackling, lovely distributor of the ball and made things look easy in the game. After his diagnosis, the player vowed to return to football after battling the disease and did so in 2016, with Villa as he did secure a return to the first team.

However, the short stint back in the game was not just done yet, as Petrov successfully transitioned into a coaching role at the club that lasted a year. The Bulgarian setup a leukaemia foundation called the Stiliyan Petrov Foundation to help people who suffer from the disease, during his time spent in recovery from cancer.