“I just thought it couldn’t happen at the European Championships. I couldn’t play.” England captain Leah Williamson has revealed that she suffers from endometriosis.

Emma Hayes, Chelsea manager and five-time English champion blues, was one of the first to address this issue. Last March, in a lengthy interview with The Telegraph, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with endometriosis, a chronic disease that affects one in ten women of reproductive age and which is characterized by almost unbearable menstrual pain. Now, more than a year later, it’s Leah Williamson’s turn to talk about endometriosis in the context of women’s football.

In an interview with British Women’s Health, where she is featured on the January cover, the Arsenal and England captain revealed she was diagnosed last year while recovering from a thigh muscle injury. At 25, Leah Williamson has suffered from severe menstrual cramps for as long as she can remember, but has never looked for an explanation – even because in the vast majority of cases, endometriosis is very difficult to diagnose.

Inimitable @leahwilliamson our January cover star????

The England football captain speaks candidly about demanding respect for the women’s game.

“When the final whistle blew, my grandmother just put her head on my mom’s shoulder and said, ‘She did it. pic.twitter.com/wpeNluIP2h

— Women’s Health (@UKWomensHealth) December 28, 2022

The disease is difficult not only to diagnose, but also to control. It’s incurable, it’s chronic, and the only way to manage the pain is with medication or a non-inflammatory diet. What made the player afraid of the crisis in the middle of the European Championship, last summer, when he took the England armband and ended up winning the trophy with England.

“Before the European competition I had a concussion, they say that this can greatly affect my next periods. And that was bad. It was very bad. I stayed on the bathroom floor, unable to move, and thought it was too late to take anything because it was already happening. I just thought it couldn’t happen in European. If this happened, I would not be able to play, ”Leah Williamson, who should be part of the King Charles III New Year’s award, explained in an interview.

The English international goes on to detail the difficulty of dealing with this type of illness as a top-level athlete. “I am a professional athlete. I have always adhered to the logic of moving forward, overcoming difficulties. But we have reached the age where we really have to say that this is a very big problem. I am absolutely sure that if men were menstruating, then a way would have already been found to stop or control them without any consequences, ”he concluded.

Endometriosis: a hidden disease affecting millions of women