When his youngest son Bailey spent five days in the hospital last month, the world No. 7 was quite worried.
Doctors initially thought the issue could have been a potential tumour in his brain or back.
But following further examination and results of an MRI scan, the medical opinion is the five-year-old could have suspected Crohn’s disease, which causes inflammation of the stomach and bowels.
Though he ended up reaching the semi-finals of the Players Championship in Wolverhampton and decided against pulling out, Wilson admits he found it hard to concentrate properly on performances on the baize.
In the penultimate tournament of the 2022–2023 schedule, the Tour Championship semi-finals in Hull, where both players are vying for the £150,000 top prize on Sunday, the 31-year-old takes on China’s Ding Junhui on Friday.
But following Tuesday’s quarter-final victory over Ali Carter – who was diagnosed with Crohn’s 20 years ago – the Warrior revealed the emotional turmoil his family have faced in recent weeks.
Wilson, who also has an eight-year-old son Finley with wife Sophie, told the World Snooker Tour: “We had a couple of days to wait for an MRI scan to find out whether it was a tumour, and that was very tough.
“It now seems more likely it could be something like Crohn’s Disease, though we are still not sure.
“The last couple of days before coming here, he had turned a bit of a corner, he was running around. You wouldn’t have known anything was wrong.
It’s necessary to sometimes have these conversations since holding things within may be quite harmful. His well-being comes first.
There have been moments when I’ve thought snooker is everything.
However, this has let me realize how fortunate I am and given me more time to simply enjoy the game.
“I didn’t want the things that have been going on behind closed doors to be seen as justification. However, we are entering a future where communication is crucial.
