JOSH Coburn's thunderbolt crashes into Tottenham's net and Mark Davies and his teenage sons are screaming with joy and running around their living room "like maniacs".

For Mark, it's an "incredible surge of joy" and also a moment of realisation. He's always known just how much Boro and football means to him - it's 50 years this week since his first game at Ayresome Park - but that Coburn strike and that rush of pure elation and to share it with his boys was the most blissful release after the most incredibly testing time in the darkness.

In 2016, Mark was diagnosed with myeloma, a rare incurable blood cancer. In the years that followed, he endured gruelling and exhausting treatment and awful uncertainty.

His family and friends provided incredible support. And so did his football club. Sometimes Boro helped without knowing, by just existing and winning and even losing. But other times the club and those at the very top went out of their way to provide support that Mark will never ever forget.

Chairman Steve Gibson learnt of Mark's battle and kept in touch throughout. When Mark discovered in 2021 that was he was in remission, Gibson was soon in contact.

"The message he sent me is something I'll keep forever, it was a beautiful thing that he said," said Mark, 56, who grew up in Eaglescliffe before moving to Liverpool and now lives in South London.

That Coburn goal in the FA Cup five months later sparked Mark into action. The former journalist put his emotions and experience into writing a book, not only about his battle with cancer but about his lifelong connection with Boro and how the club helped him through his darkest days.

"There's the famous Bill Shankly and obviously it's not true, but I think what I sort of realised is what a brilliant thing football is to have in your life, for the distraction to some extent," Mark tells the Echo after the release of A Love Letter To Football.

"When I was having a tough time and having chemotherapy, that sense of always having this thing that I love to fall back on, it almost gave me a signpost for the week.

"It wasn't more important than the love I got from family and friends but it was a great distraction, having that thing there that brings massive joy. Obviously there are hard times as well but that's one of the great things about being a Boro fan, it's the ups and downs.

"When Coburn scored that goal, I just thought 'wow'. Despite everything I'd gone through and was still going through, this teenage lad has managed to put all that stuff out of my mind and given me this incredible surge of joy.

"Then there's the collective sense of pride and connection to the club. I grew up in the area and I'm passionate about it and I know how much the club means, there's the communal thing, but then there's also the personal thing and the connection I can have with my lads and my mum through football. When you're in a really bad situation, that stuff matters all the more. The more I thought about it, the more I realised Boro has been this rock throughout my life."

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Mark will never be able to thank Steve Gibson enough for his support. The Boro chairman has written the foreword for the book, alongside Juninho and Neil Warnock.

"We've met a couple of times now and he's a man who fundamentally absolutely loves the club as much as we all do," he says.

"We can all have our debates about signings and whatever else, but my goodness I think we've got a good man there. I think we should always be thankful."

Mark, dad of Laurie, 17, and Alec, 14, is thankful for the little things in life.  Never could he have imagined what was around the corner back in 2016 when he was suffering with ankle pain. He was fortunate, he says, that his myeloma was picked up early and he was able to be very closely monitored.

Despite being the third most common type of blood cancer, myeloma, which occurs in the blood marrow, is difficult to defect and more than half of those suffering face a wait of more than five months to receive the right diagnosis. By that stage, many are experiencing extremely severe symptoms.

Myeloma is a relapsing-remitting cancer, meaning that although many patients will experience periods of remission following treatment, the disease will inevitably return.

In 2020, the cancer started to attack Mark's spine and he needed six months of intense chemotherapy. With the pandemic raging, it meant lots of time in isolation.

"I got very, very poorly, it was a slog," he said.

But then followed a period of recovery and a year later Mark got the wonderful news that he was in remission.

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He says: "What happened to me put everything into sharper focus. I try to cherish the things that really matter even more than I used to before

"It's incurable so I would be foolish to say it won't come back because it almost certainly will, but the pace of medical science is just remarkable," he says.

"The longer they keep it away, the better prospects I've got.

"I found writing therapeutic. Writing a book is something I've always wanted to do. I wish I didn't have to have had cancer to do it, but at least I'm getting some good out of the situation. Writing something about Boro and how important they've been to me all my life, particularly in the last few years is a massive thrill.

"I live in London and I just popped into a book shop and there's Ayresome Park and my book staring out at me. I'm so proud.

"The other thing, because it's such a misunderstood and horrible disease, the hope is other people suffering might get some comfort from it, that sense of understanding what you're going through but also knowing that it's not a death sentence. I can do the same things I used to, pretty much, including going to the match, obviously.

"Once I get stuck into thinking about some Boro team in the past or whatever happened to Bosko Jankovic, I'm in my element. I'll always be the little kid obsessed with the Jack Charlton season. And my lad, well one in particular despite being a south Londoner, is Boro mad. And that's wonderful having that connection. The joy of football."

A Love Letter to Football is out now and can be bought from your local book shop or online HERE.