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Aimee Staveley has finally opened up on the heartache and courage that is hidden behind her stellar career.

The 30-year-old Leeds Rhinos forward has won just about every honour in the womens game in the past few years.

But the fact that Staveley is able to play, let along succeed at the top level, is astonishing.

She was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis eight years ago and admits there are days the physical pain is excruciating.

The mental battles, of knowing its a crippling condition that she will always suffer with, have also taken her to some dark places.

But staggeringly Staveley believes the bad luck that fate has dealt her has helped turned her into the fierce competitor she is today.

She said: The things I have achieved in rugby are totally beyond my wildest dreams and it is amazing when I look back at what Ive done.

But I never take any of it for granted and never look too far in front or get my hopes up because I never know when Ill get an infection or a flare-up or something that will knock me back.

Staveley has decided to speak out to help other sufferers and this week completed a 100km running challenge to raise money for Versus Arthritis.

But she admits its taken her eight years to get to the point where she feels comfortable talking about it.

She said: I never wanted people to know because I didnt want to be treated any differently or to be excluded from things.

The fatigue massively affects me and is there constantly even when the pain isnt. When I have a flare up the pain is so excruciating that it feels like Ive been turned to stone.

But Ive never wanted to make excuses for myself or for others to make excuses for me.

Staveley - a treble winner with Bradford in 2017, plus Grand Final and two times Challenge Cup winner with Leeds - has previously only confided her secret with her coaches.

She said: I needed them to know if I wasnt very well or was having a flare-up and theyve all been understanding.

But by telling them it just made me try even harder to prove myself. I get very stubborn with it.

Staveley, who is furloughed from work in her career as an assistant manager for Specsavers, is also a qualified plasterer.

She said: When I went to college it was at the start of the recession so I thought Id get a trade because I knew Id then be able to work anywhere in the world.

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Staveley is so tough she even did this interview during a 10km run as part of her charity fund-raiser.

She said: Im a forward because of my size but I have always been very good at stamina.

I wanted to set myself something that is really hard to do so I feel proud and I thought the best charity to do it for would be the one that is close to me.

Go here to see the original:
Leeds' Aimee Staveley opens up on arthritis diagnosis that has been career inspiration - Daily Star

This entry was posted on May 26, 2020 at 11:49 am and is filed under Arthritis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |