Sandy Campbell: Homeless former Bulldogs player gifted van, but needs urgent medical help with a new tumour

Friends have rallied around Sandy Campbell after discovering he was homeless and battling cancer. But the one-time NRL glamour player has once again been knocked down by ill-health.

He cries through pain while lying in the foetal position inside a modest south Tweed motel room.

Sandy Campbell, the one-time NRL glamour player, has been knocked down again by ill-health, this time through a tumour behind his right ear.

The pain is so excruciating he can barely walk and is essentially unable to talk.

The ex-Bulldogs, Souths and Easts star, is taking painkillers while awaiting admission into a hospital hyperbaric chamber where treatment can ease his suffering.

The wait though is long and agonising. Close friends offer love and support but they confront hurdles in the medical system because they’re not family.

This masthead revealed last December that Campbell was homeless. Since his plight was revealed, friends rallied and bought Campbell a self-contained van, which is parked outside his motel room. The physical torture prevents Campbell from driving.

Sandy Campbell (R) with friend and fellow former rugby league star Kurt Landers (L).

Friends worry for Campbell – nicknamed the Sandman – if the wait for a hyperbaric chamber continues. “If the poor guy is in the foetal position on his bed, he can’t get up, can’t move and is crying, we just hope they will try and get him in sooner rather than later,” said great mate Kurt Landers.

While pushing around a shopping trolley and sleeping on the beach last year, Campbell miraculously overcame radiation and chemotherapy from throat cancer. Now he has an ear tumour – the hits just keep coming for this tortured soul who tries to smile every day.

Close friend Darren Smith often visits Campbell and while Landers, who lives in Perth, stays in regular touch. Landers helped buy and remodel Campbell’s van.

A few days ago, Campbell, who has face tattoos and a missing front tooth, lost his mobile phone. He is now more alone than ever.

A talented artist, Campbell tells friends he was given cancer for a reason – to design and paint sarongs and bandannas for sick kids in hospital.

Nicknamed the ‘dancing Bulldog’ Campbell was a heart-throb in the 1980s playing for Canterbury. Picture: News Corp.

He is staying in a motel which was previously used as emergency accommodation for homeless residents during the 2022 floods. A Government body helps fund Campbell’s modest room. On Sunday, Smith took Campbell to hospital, the former player in tears due to the pain. Smith was heartbroken.

“It’s s**t seeing him in that much pain,” Smith said. “It was a four-hour wait and he said he wasn’t waiting that long. He had enough medication to get him through that night.

“It’s a lump or tumour behind his ear and they said he has to go into a hyperbaric chamber to release the pressure but there’s only one in Brisbane. We’re trying to get him in.

Campbell is a talented artist, creating this drawing of Josh Reynolds.

“I’ve got to try and get him to talk to his ear, nose and throat doctor again and push for this hyperbaric chamber which will relieve the pain. I’m trying to talk to doctors but it’s hard when you’re not family, they can’t really give you the information.

“He can only take so many painkillers. He is in a ridiculous amount of pain and just lays down. It takes a lot of out of him to talk.”

Landers spoke passionately and honestly about Campbell, who played 93 first grade games and once featured on the cover of Rugby League Week posing as Michael Jackson.

“Fingers crossed he can get into the hyperbaric chamber,” Landers said. “Darren went and saw him today and Sandy was in tears. That’s how bad it is, pain-wise.

“Sandy is by himself but Darren has taken on a lot of burden. Darren picked Sandy up and took him to hospital – no-one else would do that.

Campbell featured on the front cover of Rugby League Week magazine in April 1988. April. Picture: News Corp

“I know Darren got him some pain medication the other day. Sandy is a genuine guy who has been dealt some difficult cards. He got through the first stage (of cancer) but now this is another hurdle in his life.

“Sandy is a strong character who doesn’t ask for help from anyone. People like to give him help but he doesn’t take a lot – it’s just the way he is.”

Even through his sickness, Campbell wants to help others, according to Landers.

“Did you know Sandy is an amazing artist? He is very spiritual. He sees a lot of things in the clouds and trees that we don’t see. He will just start painting. That is what he wants to do – paint sarongs and bandannas and give them to kids with cancer. That’s his goal,” Landers said.

“He says he has been dealt this cancer for a reason, a purpose … to do these paintings for the kids. Have you seen some of his drawings of Johnathan Thurston, Greg Inglis and Josh Reynolds? They are all individual, all different. They’re amazing.”

Campbell was to move into a two-bedroom townhouse recently but the plan fell through.