Devon McTavish is one of the best conditioned athletes in professional soccer, but the Winchester native is also one of an estimated half-million people in North America who suffer from crohn's disease.
"Whether it's challenging myself through pain or challenging myself to be a better soccer player at the end of the day it's all about trying to make yourself better."
"It's not easy, until you explain it to people you don't know how painful and frustrating it can be. You think you'll have three or four good days and think it's starting to pass and it might be getting under control and then you have to start all over again," McTavish said.
United Midfielder Ben Olsen developed a strong bond with mc-tavish when the two roomed together three years ago----but he only learned about devon's illness recently and now he has even more respect for his close friend.
"Injuries heal up, and we can fix those but Crohn's disease is a battle he's gonna have for a while and he's a pretty humble guy so he doesn't talk about it very much so we don't know the real effects of how it affects him day in and day out," Olsen said.
At the moment there isn't a cure for Crohn's, a Disease in which people suffer unexpected pains as their body's gastro-intestinal tract is attacked by their own immune system and while Devon has been able to control his pains with medication his father patrick's battle has been tougher.
"It's really tough ya know it's been a lot worse on him that it has been on me. I got it at a young age and we attacked it early on. He's a bit older so it's not easy for him to get control of everything. He's been in and out of the hospital and he's starting to regain his energy and regain a normal life but it's been tough because I feel for him every dad and know exactly what he's going through," McTavish said.
While Devon's mind is with his father, he and his teammates are fighting for a playoff spot and Soehn knows the utility player's ability to adjust in life will carry over during this crucial time in united's season.
"It tells you a lot about him being a professional athlete. You're talking about a guy who needs to be elite in how he approaches things every day and fitness wise and what he eats so it's pretty rmarkable that you really can't tell on any given day," head coach Tommy Soehn said.