Footballer Danny Mills, renowned for his tough tactics on the pitch, is showing a softer side by promoting a spina bifida and hydrcephalus charity. He explains his personal reasons for doing so to Barry Nelson.

WHEN soccer hard man Danny Mills rang up a small charity and said he wanted to help, they thought somebody was winding them up. But the England international's call to ASBAH (Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus) was genuine and heartfelt.

After Danny and his wife, Lisa, went through the intense trauma of losing a baby to spina bifida and hydrocephalus, the shaven-headed full-back decided he wanted to do something to help others affected by these two devastating conditions.

So a few days ago Danny faced the Press at Middlesbrough's training ground, on the outskirts of Darlington, and talked about the reasons why he has decided to give his time to such a good cause.

"When we lost our baby, Archie, it was a tragic, tragic time for our family. Once we got over the initial shock I decided I wanted to do something useful, to turn what had happened to us into something worthwhile" says Danny, whose face now appears on the ASBAH website.

"I phoned them up and said 'It's Danny Mills the footballer, I want to get involved.' They were quite shocked to begin with, they were not quite sure whether it was a wind-up," he laughs.

This week, Danny helped launch a new appeal by ASBAH to raise £300,000 to set up the charity's first dedicated helpline and maintain it for three years.

Two years ago, the tough-tackling defender was playing for struggling Leeds United when an entirely unexpected event changed his life for ever. Danny and Lisa went into hospital for what they thought was a routine scan, in November 2002, to be told that late complications meant that their third child would not survive birth.

As the consultant explained that Lisa would have to carry on with the pregnancy and give birth, even though the child would immediately die, Danny was so upset that he had to leave the room and go out into the corridor.

As he paced up and down, trying to take in the terrible news, he remembers asking "Why us? What have we done to deserve this?"

Danny says the loss of Archie, who would have been their third child, was the saddest thing he has ever gone through.

He remembers telling his son, George, who was three at the time, that the new baby would not be coming home but "going to heaven instead".

The impact of losing a child in this way was so profound that Danny even thought about giving up football. "You go through a phase of thinking 'What does football really mean? Is it worth playing?' In the end I decided to carry on."

Desperate to find out more about spina bifida and hydrocephalus, Danny searched the Internet. He quickly found the website of ASBAH, the largest charity working in this field. He was so impressed by the website and the support he received that he made up his mind to try to pay them back in some way.

The charity provided crucial advice and information at a time when Danny and his wife were deciding on whether to try for another child, despite the increased risk of another tragic outcome.

"To begin with, I thought we were never going to do it but we always wanted more children and because of ASBAH we got all the advice that we needed," says Danny, 26, who is currently on loan to Middlesbrough.

"We knew it was a risk but it was one that was worth taking. To try to reduce the chances of something happening, Lisa took a higher dose of folic acid during her pregnancy."

Danny says it was "nine months of hell" because of fears that lightning could strike twice. But five weeks premature, a baby boy, Stanley, was born. "Those first moments of the baby being born are fantastic. We checked up on everything to make sure everything was all right. After he was born, it was just such a relief that everything was OK."

It was after the birth of Stanley that Danny approached ASBAH and offered his services as a celebrity promoter. "I will do as much work as I can for the charity," he says.

If anyone suggests that it seems odd for a fire-breathing footballer to have a charitable side, Danny points out that he keeps work and the rest of his life in separate compartments. "I have always played my football in the same way and that is not going to change. That 90 minutes is all about winning."

Off the field, Danny says he is very much a family man and doesn't take his work home. "Having children puts football into perspective. They are by far the most important thing in your life, they come before everything."

Andrew Russell, executive director of ASBAH, says he is "really thrilled" that Danny has publicly backed the charity. "There is a caring side to Danny which we have known about ever since we met him. It was his initiative to contact us and his offer to get involved in the long-term is very welcome."

Nationally, around 15,000 families have been affected by spina bifida and/or hydrocephalus and an estimated 500 of these are in the North-East and North Yorkshire. But one of the problems ASBAH faces is its low profile - a problem which Danny Mills may be about to solve.

"We have a lot of expertise in the field but we are not very well known. Hopefully, with Danny's support, we can set up a phone line which will provide an important link with families," says Mr Russell.

He says the charity offers a range of support and advice, including visits by specialist workers in the field. "We are often the first point of contact for families who have just had a diagnosis of cerebral palsy or hydrocephalus, or both, and we can help them as children grow up, go to school and receive healthcare." Families tend to contact ASBAH where there is a crisis or problem, he adds.

Angelina Davey, 44, from Middlesbrough, whose ten-year-old son Jordan has hydrocephalus, is impressed with Danny Mills. "I think what he has done is brilliant. We need somebody like Danny to really promote the charity. He is a family man with personal experience of these problems, he knows what we have gone through."

Mrs Davey is also impressed by ASBAH, which has provided lifelong support for Jordan, including a North-East field worker who makes regular visits.

Jordan's condition is controlled by a shunt, an implanted device which prevents a build-up of spinal fluid which can lead to pressure on the brain. "His right leg is weak but his mates at school just think he's got a poorly leg," his mother says.

* To find out more about the campaign ring (01733) 555988 or visit the website at www.asbah.org. To make a donation, send a cheque made payable to ASBAH to: ASBAH House, 42 Park Road, Peterborough, PE1 2UQ, marked clearly for the Danny Mills Appeal.

Credit card donations can also be made via the website.