Ferdinand, 44, lost partner Rebecca Ellison to breast cancer in 2015, with the 34-year-old leaving behind three children.

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And he was delighted to see Sebastien Haller line up for Borussia Dortmund against Chelsea after the striker recovered from his own cancer fight.

Haller was diagnosed with testicular cancer after a £29million move from Ajax last summer.

And the Frenchman underwent two gruelling surgeries and four rounds of chemotherapy before finally making his Dortmund debut last month.

Ex-West Ham striker Haller was tonight named in Dortmund’s starting XI for the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie against Chelsea.

And Ferdinand was overcome with emotion as he hailed Haller for urging people to get themselves checked regularly.

That’s as he revealed that Rebecca’s passing hit him so hard that he “hid away” from similar encouragement to others.

Ferdinand, who shares one child with second wife Kate Wright, said: “That was a moving segment, his family have been a huge support to him.

“Seeing how he looked so ill and thinking will he come back, and he’s now actually playing in a Champions League game.

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“It’s phenomenal. And the small margins between doing that and going the other way are so apparent and well-documented.

“The narrative that he’s pushing is fabulous, even to get us guys speaking before we got on about ‘have you checked?’

“I want to start going on and doing that. I’ve hid away from doing anything like that because of my own personal story.

“A lot of people need to sit and listen because the power of it is huge and immense. 

“We take this game very seriously and it puts it into perspective when you look at what he’s had to go through, the mental resilience he’s had to go through to get to this point. 

“But we sometimes get caught up on decisions, results and what it means to play football, but really it’s about life.”