Ellen White: Former England striker revealed that a punctured lung was the “big reason” for her retirement | Football news

Ellen White has revealed how a punctured lung was a “big reason” for her decision to retire from football.

The 33-year-old England and Manchester City forward, who confirmed the end of his career on Tuesday, endured a “traumatic” experience last year while receiving acupuncture treatment.

White has suffered from back spasms after returning from the Tokyo Olympics and Manchester City arranged for her to see an elite sports physiotherapist for acupuncture last August.

During treatment, White suffered a “rare thing” and her lung was punctured.

She came back in early September, but White told BBC Sport How it contributed to her decision to retire.

“If you had told me two or three years ago that you were going to retire, I would have said ‘absolutely not,’ but I have had a period in my career,” she said.

“I had a challenging time last year – coming back from the Olympics, I basically had a punctured lung, and I had to go through a lot and a big reason for wanting to compete. turmeric.”

Tiny needles are inserted into certain points on the body to stimulate nerves during acupuncture.

“It punctured my lung, which is not a normal occurrence,” she said.

“It was a really traumatic time for me and something I’m still figuring out, still working through.

“I had to wait for the lungs to basically inflate again. I had a needle inserted into my chest to pull all the air out and hopefully the lung would inflate again – which it does.

“At the time, I thought for me, I was just stuck in one area: ‘I need to get back to playing. We have these games – I want to come back playing for my club; I want to be back. play for England again.'”

White helped England win the European Championship this summer, but knew in advance she would play the last few games.

She played a key role in the tournament, starting every game and scoring twice to lift her country’s final record to 52 goals with 113 caps.

White has represented England at three Euros and three World Cups, scoring six goals at the 2019 tournament.

Manchester City learned of White’s intentions earlier this month.

“It’s important for me now to tell my story and say it was an important factor in my year and led to my decision to retire. Obviously there are other factors that influence that as well. there.

“I don’t want that to happen to anyone else again is my main thing. I don’t want to leave the sport without telling it and without saying I want everything in place so it doesn’t happen. with anyone else.”