Photo Copyright Natalie Mincher for SPP
It started as a stomachache after practice with Tottenham Hotspur FC.
Chioma Ubogagu turned to Spurs defender Amy Turner and attempted to describe it the only way she knew how: “It felt like death.”
Repeating it now in conversation with The Equalizer, she said she’s not one to rush to a doctor, but once she returned home, Ubogagu threw up and knew there was definitely something wrong.
From there, she updated the medical team, called her mother, Tina, who is a nurse, and headed for the ER. Nothing showed in the bloodwork, and after she pushed for further testing, she was met with a harsh reality. Ubogagu, an otherwise healthy, young English footballer, had a mass in her abdomen.
“The way she was looking at me scared me,” Ubogagu said. “It was just a very uncertain diagnosis.”
Several weeks and doctor visits later, Ubogagu and her mother decided it was best to return to the U.S. to her support system. Luckily for her, that included coach Paul Ratcliffe and the…
