Footballer Jesper Björkman ill with ALS

The first time Jesper Björkman noticed that something was different was in early summer 2022. Jesper noticed that the left hand was not working as usual and that there was a weakness in the left side. Jesper had broken his collarbone a couple of years earlier and perhaps the change was due to that.

“I also noticed that my speech became a bit mumbly when I was short of breath or tired,” recalls Jesper Björkman.

Jesper has devoted his whole life to football. As a 19-year-old he signed for Helsingborg and then followed Gefle, Eskilstuna, Akropolis and in March 2022 Jesper joined Ängelholms FF. It was around this time that Jesper began to notice the change.

Job, house and family

“I was playing part-time and I had got a job at Swedbank in Ängelholm. The plan was for me and my girlfriend Linnea Eldforsen Nilsson to take the next step with jobs, houses and maybe family.

The club helped Jesper with an appointment with an orthopaedist to check the change in his left arm, but only made an appointment after the summer and in the meantime Jesper contacted a medical centre.

The doctor I met sent me to a neurologist. I thought it was unnecessary. Why should I see a neurologist? It was probably just a nerve that was pinched.

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Maybe MMN

After the summer, Jesper came to a doctor at the neurologist who did tests and believed that it was Multifocal Motor Neuropathy, MMN, and that can affect the arms, legs and speech. Jesper was given antibodies intravenously over a week and it would improve the symptoms. But there was no change.

“In that vein, I read about Börje Salming and that he had been diagnosed with ALS and how the disease broke down his body. And I thought, but I'm only 29, it can't be ALS. I have a problem with my left arm and my speech.

Jesper had done a spinal cord test early on and now the answer came. That the degradation of the nerve cells happened far too fast for it to be MMN. According to the doctors, there was only one other option and Jesper and Linnea were called to the hospital in Helsingborg.

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Jesper Björkman has started a fundraiser for ALS research through the Börje Salming ALS Foundation. You can find Jesper's collection here: https://www.targetaid.com/m/6bf87675ce

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“When we came in, there were two doctors and a nurse in the room and I thought, 'This is not good.

Jesper and Linnea received the news and then Jesper and Linnea were left alone in the room.

— I broke down. Linnea broke down. With MMN I could live, even if it would mean I would be in a wheelchair. But ALS was a death sentence. All our dreams fell apart.

Jesper and Linnea called their mothers and Jesper wrote to his boss that he couldn't work for a while. Then the doctors and nurse came back into the room.

“I said that I wanted brake medicine, that I wanted to see a psychologist and all those competencies were part of the ALS team: curator, speech therapist, occupational therapist and physiotherapist. I wanted to meet everyone as soon as possible.
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Like a fog

This was just before Christmas. Jesper and Linnea changed their plans and celebrated Christmas together with their parents.

Everything was like a fog. I felt like I couldn't bear to carry this alone so I called some friends. We cried, but it helped me that more people knew. It helped me hold on to a jump. That I wouldn't die now. I needed to fight and continue to live.

As a footballer, Jesper describes himself as a durable defender, perhaps not the most technical, but strong and confident and someone to rely on. It is also the role he has taken in the disease.

“I decided from day one to be strong in my illness. I have seen other severely ill people who are in control and who are struggling and I decided straight away that I want to be like them.
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Proud to fight

“It's a different situation, from being a football guy who doesn't cry, I cry a lot. A lot of people say I'm strong, but there's no choice. I have to fight. I'm far from strong all the time, but I'm proud that I'm fighting.

Would you have liked to get the news at the hospital in a different way?

It was good in many ways. They had set aside time and it was good that they were several, but immediately after the announcement I would have wanted more information. I would have liked all the bookings with the people in the ALS team to have been done. Instead, in the chaos that ensued, I had to start booking, contact Försäkringskassan and everything else.

It took several attempts before Jesper found a psychologist who suited him and his situation. Now they speak every week and Linnea also sees a psychologist.

“I realized early on that health care is there for me, but only when I get worse. When I need help with breathing, a wheelchair or something else. But I want to keep track of my values, not just when I'm getting worse.
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Research studies in Malmö

Jesper asked to get in touch with research groups within ALS in Malmö, Stockholm and Umeå. The choice ultimately fell on an ALS study in Malmö. By participating in the study, Jepser gains access to a brake medicine that is in phase three, i.e. the last phase before it can be approved in Sweden.

In the study, Jesper is continuously tested for different ALS markers and can get answers if there is any change.

This is a great support for me. But it does not go without saying that you can be in a study, you need to be in the right phase of your disease, that is, healthy enough or sick enough to be included in that particular study. I am glad that I joined the study in Malmö.

Jesper is now back at work at Swedbank in Ängelholm and is working 50 percent.
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“Since my motor skills have been affected, it takes me a lot longer to do it. Everything from fixing my hair to getting dressed, so half time is just right.

And Jesper lifts more which is good. He will be 30 years old in April. That he and Linnea have bought a house and that in midsummer they are getting married.

I have a lot to look forward to and I will fight. Telling me I have ALS helps me. When I tried on tuxedos for the wedding, we told them I have ALS and my body might change. It's easier for others to know and it makes it a little easier for me to fight.