Illness and Death
After finally retiring from playing, he moved back to Gosport, and took over his parents’ newsagency, before, in 1986, discovering that he had leukemia. He was diagnosed as suffering from a complicated mixture of myeloid and lymphoblastic leukemia.
Mills vigorously fought the disease and became involved in charity work by establishing a fund for leukemia research.
Despite being hospitalised by the side effects of his medical treatment, he organised the biggest charity match ever seen in the South of England with an all-time Saints XI playing the then current team at The Dell in May 1988, involving players such as Mick Channon, Alan Ball, Kevin Keegan and Martin Chivers playing in front of a capacity crowd of over 20,000. Mills received an emotional standing ovation when he appeared on the pitch.
He died on 1 August 1988, having battled against the illness for two years.
Read more about this topic: Steve Mills (footballer)
Famous quotes containing the words illness and/or death:
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