Rangers hero admits he wonders sometimes if he is CURSED as he says ‘hopefully one day I’ll be less paranoid’
FORMER Rangers star Jermain Defoe admits he wonders sometimes if he is CURSED.
The former West Ham and Spurs striker played a key role as Rangers won back the title to stop Celtic doing ten-in-a-row.
He's now retired and working as an Under-18 coach under former Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou at Spurs.
He would love to have the Aussie's top job at Tottenham at one time - but he's been lifting the lid on a catalogue of personal heartache which he's battled through at times.
The star lost dad Jimmy to throat cancer, his half brother Gavin in a street attack and his cousin Hannah when she was electrocuted in a pool on holiday - all in the same four-year period during his playing career.
He told the Daily Mail that a ping on his phone these days fills him with dread.
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He said: "If someone messages me saying, "Can you call me ASAP?", I panic and my heart drops
'Because I know what it feels like to have those messages and then you phone a family member and it is bad news.
"Hopefully one day it changes and I'll be less paranoid.
"But I panic about things because you want the people you love to be around forever.
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"When you have lost people, you don't want to go through that again.'"
Defoe is speaking as a new film about his life is set to be released.
He also opened up on his special friendship with Bradley Lowery, the young Sunderland fan who passed away following a battle against a rare form of childhood cancer.
Defoe said: "That relationship was really special. 'He gave me such a good feeling.
"Maybe it was because of all the stuff I'd been through before that -with people trying to take advantage and that pain - then all of a sudden, I met someone and it was so genuine.
"A person who just loves being around you and always seemed to have a smile when I walked in the room. When Brads passed away, it was really tough."
It goes without saying that Defoe was horrified by the sick behaviour of the Sheffield Wednesday fan who mocked Lowery's death during a Championship match against Sunderland in September.
Dale Houghton, 32, was given a 12-week suspended sentence after he was seen laughing as he taunted visiting supporters by holding up an image of Lowery on his phone.
He said: "It was hard to see that, I couldn't actually believe it.
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"I thought 'am I actually seeing things? What are these people thinking? What kind of a world are we living in?"
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