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19th August 2017
11:22am BST

"When my mother died, I promised I’d play for Ireland. For her. "It’s very emotional when I hear the Irish national anthem. "It was a very tough time. We didn’t know [how ill she was] until a couple of weeks before she died. We got pulled in, and told this is going to happen with mum. I remember crying for two days. Non-stop. My mum was in the hospice."[caption id="attachment_134265" align="aligncenter" width="647"]
Jon Walters speaks on the phone on the Aviva Stadium pitch after Ireland qualified for Euro 2016.[/caption]
As Winter writes it, Walters needed to stand up and open a window in the room the interview was taking place. The emotion of that revelation hit him like a wave. He continued:
"We all have a wall, don’t we? What’s so hard is I remember the days vividly. I went to see my mum in the hospice after she passed away, and the next day, I went straight back into school, carried on as if everything was all right."The Premier League star admits he never really stopped to dwell on the passing of his mother and only his own wife, Jo, has ever gotten to fully hear his thoughts on the matter. His intention is to go back to university when his football career winds up and study psychology, in and effort to help him properly reflect on his mother's passing, and other matters in his life. There is so much more in the interview and we would recommend seeking it out. The consensus was that Walters has done something commendable by being so open in his interview. https://twitter.com/weafer_philip/status/898820873917931521 https://twitter.com/alansmith90/status/898819612619440128 https://twitter.com/RoverGrey/status/898824747697545216 https://twitter.com/Rich1878/status/898810407753834500 https://twitter.com/AonghusOMaicin/status/898693512748650496 Walters is already revered in Ireland. This frank, unflinching interview adds to his legend.
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