{"id":142662,"date":"2023-10-26T09:59:30","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T09:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity-hub.com\/?p=142662"},"modified":"2023-10-26T09:59:30","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T09:59:30","slug":"i-won-wayne-rooneys-street-striker-to-kickstart-pro-career-but-i-had-to-relearn-to-walk-after-rare-illness-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity-hub.com\/sport\/i-won-wayne-rooneys-street-striker-to-kickstart-pro-career-but-i-had-to-relearn-to-walk-after-rare-illness-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"I won Wayne Rooney's Street Striker to kickstart pro career but I had to relearn to walk after rare illness | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"
ASHLEIGH GODDARD overcame strong competition to win Wayne Rooney's Street Striker in 2009.<\/p>\n
The Londoner won Series Two of the iconic Sky One show, which was watched by 600,000 people each week, before earning a scholarship to play at an American college.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After four years at DePaul University in Chicago, including two as captain, she returned to Europe and launched her pro career with Danish side FC Nordsjaelland.<\/p>\n
Following a stint with Cypriot team Apollon, who she helped qualify for the Champions League, Goddard returned to these shores with Crystal Palace in 2019.<\/p>\n
The Eagles had ambitions to be promoted to the Women's Super League, but a freak incident left things hanging in the balance for Goddard.<\/p>\n
Explaining the incident that changed her life, she told the BBC: "I went to receive the ball from a throw-in and I think her forearm hit me in the back of the head or the neck and I was unconscious for a few seconds."<\/p>\n
Persistent headaches followed and in January 2020, Goddard went to hospital for a scan.<\/p>\n It was then revealed that she had a brain arteriovenous malformation – which affects the blood vessels connecting arteries to veins.<\/p>\n That March Goddard was told she'd need surgery, as her initial issue had developed into a terrifying brain aneurysm.<\/p>\n On the stark nature of her situation, she later revealed: "They said it would burst at some point in my lifetime.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS<\/strong><\/p>\n "They couldn't say if it would be tomorrow or in 20 years, but that I needed treatment. They said it would be either fatal or that it would cause a life-changing disability."<\/p>\n Goddard eventually went under the knife to solve the issue in 2021… only to suffer another life-altering complication.<\/p>\n She continued: "I woke up and I couldn't move my left side, I was paralysed.<\/p>\n It was the worst thing other than dying that could have happened<\/p>\n "I couldn't talk, my face had dropped, my arm couldn't do the most basic of movements. They told me something was wrong but I would have never guessed a stroke.<\/p>\n "It was the worst thing other than dying that could have happened."<\/p>\n Incredibly, despite having to relearn how to walk following her stroke, Goddard managed to return to action for London Bees just six months later.<\/p>\n On what came next, she added: "I had to learn to walk again, I had to learn how to use a knife and fork again and when it came to football I had to learn it all again.<\/p>\n "I did thousands of reps of each type of pass and each touch and eventually things just started to get easier."<\/p>\n Goddard, 31, has continued to inspire with her recovery, and joined AFC Wimbledon in the summer.<\/p>\n She had previously trained with the Dons as she stepped up her rehabilitation, and was delighted to be able to return.<\/p>\n Upon sealing her move, she said: "When I first visited, everyone was so nice and supportive of me and what had happened, and that really stuck with me.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a no-brainer for me that I wanted to come back here and give a good season. There\u2019s only one aim, and that\u2019s promotion!"<\/p>\n Boss Kevin Foster then said of her: "Not only will she bring quality on the pitch, but her character is one of the best you will see in football."<\/p>\n<\/picture>DOING TIME <\/span><\/p>\n
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