Beth Mead says she will take the positives from her long-injury lay off as she continues to work her way back to full fitness from a season-threatening ACL injury.
The Arsenal forward faces an uphill battle to be fit for the Women's World Cup in July after suffering the blow during a 3-2 defeat to Man Utd in the WSL last November. Mead has also had to deal with an incredibly difficult period off-the-pitch, her mother June passing away from ovarian cancer in January.
Mead was England's Player of the Tournament at Euro 2022 as the Lionesses won a first major trophy last summer. England manager Sarina Wiegman recently said the door was not closed on Mead making a possible return for the World Cup and said it was "too early" to start planning without the Arsenal star.
The forward, who also won the golden boot at the Euros, has now opened up on the moment she suffered the horrendous injury.
"We were playing Manchester United at the Emirates, there was a big crowd and it was a big occasion,” Mead told Telegraph Sport. "We were losing 3-2. It was the 93rd minute and I’m running after a lost cause down the touchline.
“I tried to keep the ball in play and I got knocked at the perfectly wrong moment. I went one way, my knee goes the other. The pain was excruciating for about 30 seconds. It was a pain I had not felt before, it was like someone had gone inside my knee and whacked it with a hammer.
"I was in agony. By the time I got to the dressing room, my mind was working and I was starting to get worried. What if it is this, what if it is that? I was in such a good place with my football."
"I heard those words, it’s your ACL. The three letters you never want to hear as a footballer.
"It’s not three months, it’s not six months, it’s normally a good solid nine month injury. You know it’s surgery. A lot of thoughts go through your mind, a lot of emotions kick in. I was very upset.
“Shortly after I got the news, I was surrounded by my team-mates at Arsenal, they knew what my life was like away from football.
“I think the realisation dawned that the one thing that had been an escape from all the trauma of my mum being ill, was gone. That was the scariest thought."
Although Mead's rehabilitation is ongoing, she does believe that the time away from football has allowed her to reflect and spend vital time with her mother before her untimely passing.
"The universe works in weird and wonderful ways but I do believe in things happening for a reason," added Mead.
"Not that I wanted this to happen to me, not that I needed a nine-month injury, but it has given me the time to sit down and reflect on everything that happened to me last year.
"I actually got so much precious time with my mum before she passed that I would not have got if I was playing and training. If I was fit, my mum would have wanted me to go into training, to get fit for the season restarting and the games coming up.
"I didn’t have that guilt of needing to be somewhere and her telling me I needed to be there. I spent those last few weeks with her, I listened to her and it was a very powerful time."
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