The former Chelsea midfielder was forced to temporarily step back from football in 2019 after receiving a painful diagnosis
Footballer Fran Kirby has spoken out about her frightening experience of pericarditis, after experiencing symptoms similar to indigestion. The athlete, who played for England’s Lionesses for 11 years, thought it spelt the end of her career and took time to recover in 2019.
“It’s quite a sudden and dramatic story, to be honest,” the former Chelsea midfielder told the Mirror in an exclusive interview. “I was just at home, having dinner and with my two teammates, and I went to take a sip of Coke Zero, and then it just all of a sudden just got really, really bad chest pains.
“And it kind of felt a little bit like indigestion, but it was like 300 times worse than what I was used to. And I sat there for a couple of seconds thinking, ‘Okay, like, is this going to pass? Is it going to go away?’ And it just never did.
“And then I started to panic and get a little bit kind of frantic around the table. And I was just kept saying, ‘I don’t feel well. I don’t feel well, there’s something wrong.'”
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In a matter of moments, Fran was overcome with dizziness and collapsed on the floor. Paramedics rushed to her aid and, while they initially said everything looked fine, a doctor wasn’t quite convinced.
“The pain in my chest was so extreme – it literally felt like someone was trying to pull it out,” Fran continued. “I was really fatigued leading up to it, but as an athlete, that’s normal. It wasn’t until the chest pain hit that I knew something was seriously wrong.
“He got me seen by a cardiologist, and that’s when I was diagnosed with pericarditis.” Pericarditis is an inflammation of the heart’s outer lining, affecting roughly 28 in every 100,000 people each year, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Whilst it’s curable and not usually serious, it can give rise to several complications and is generally accompanied by incredibly debilitating symptoms. For Fran, this not only included chest pain but severe fatigue that even made climbing the stairs difficult.
In light of this, she had no choice but to step away from football for several months. She described this as the ‘hardest thing’, entirely stripping her of her identity.
“I’d always seen myself as Fran, the footballer,” the 32-year-old added. “I thought, ‘Give it a couple of weeks and it’ll be fine. I’ll be ready to go.’ And the doctor said, ‘No, no, no, you need to take this quite seriously. You can’t push yourself until you’re ready to do so.’
“So, I think once I got through the early stages and I still was feeling quite poorly, I thought, ‘Okay, this is going to be a long time now.”
After a course of anti-inflammatory medication and a lengthy recovery period, Fran eventually resumed playing football, returning in time to make the Lionesses’ winning EURO 2022 squad.
She retired from the Lionesses in June this year but is still deemed ‘one of the most recognisable faces of England’s rise’, boasting 79 caps and 19 goals across her international career. She also signed for Brighton & Hove Albion in July 2024.
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Reflecting on the whole ordeal, Fran said she’s now far more conscious of her well-being and is keen to stress that not everyone with heart issues looks how you might expect them to.
“Being a healthy athlete who trained since I was five years old, I never felt that I would ever have a problem with my heart,” she continued. “Luckily, I’m back to full health now. I’m training just as hard as I used to, and don’t need ongoing treatment.
“…I’m so much more aware of the power of keeping track of my health. As an athlete and as a person, knowledge is power. To understand what’s going on inside and understand why you’re feeling a certain way, and to just not suffer.
“I think for so many years, so many people just accept that it’s normal to feel illness or pain when actually, it might be something that you can get help with. To understand your body is one of the most powerful things you can do.
“That’s why I’m taking part in the On the Ball campaign with Bluecrest, because I think ongoing monitoring is just so important to help you understand your health and potentially prevent something that could make you very ill. I’ve had my first Bluecrest health assessment, and I’m even more into my health stats now!”
