A Belfast mum who has battled with a hidden disability has hailed a newly-formed football team for helping spark a taboo conversation.
Magz Mhartain, from the Whiterock area, joined Donegal Celtic Ladies FC two months ago. The team itself only started in May 2022, but is helping women, young and old, to make friends and to play football.
The football team ranges from women aged 14, right through to women in their 50s - and as they took to the field on Sunday, they celebrated a victory in winning their first game, and proudly wearing the sunflower, which promotes the hidden disabilities group.
Read more: NI mum creates own clothing brand to help empower other women
The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower enables people with non-visible disabilities to access the support they need. It acts as a prompt for someone to choose to let people around them know they have a non-visible disability and that they may need a helping hand, understanding, or simply more time.
Magz told Belfast Live: "The team was set up back in May. It started with a few players wanting to get out and kick a ball about to now having a team. We have just kept growing. I joined the team seven weeks ago, and haven't looked back.
"I have worked very closely with hidden disabilities because I have got children with severe hidden disabilities. I myself have come through endometriosis and had to have a full hysterectomy because of it. It is something that I am passionate about, and would advocate for, because it affects every other person. I was in that taboo, where you go up and got on with it, and didn't talk about it.
"We wore our kits with the sunflower on them yesterday, and we won, that is the first win, which was amazing. We are out to make a difference."
For more information on the team, how to get invovled, or how to help, please follow here.
READ NEXT:
Meet the NI sisters helping mums on their pregnancy and postpartum journeys
- NI mum marks recovery from amputation and mastectomy by training for triathlon
- NI mum opens up about coming out as gay after having her son
- NI couple launch new business to channel grief of baby loss
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
