‘People looked at me like I was a something, not someone’

Former England and Team GB player Heather Fisher bluntly states, “I didn’t look in a mirror for years, maybe four or five.”

“Looking back, I felt disgusted because people perceived me as something rather than a person.”

She explains how she overcame losing her hair, how she battled her identity, and how she struggled to accept herself from others.

A white wall with black handwriting on it is unmissable when you’re sitting in her living room.

When you take a closer look, you’ll find dozens of inspirational quotes and affirmations.

Even before she begins to share hers, the words convey a narrative.

“May feel lost.” may make you uncomfortable. a significant component of the transition. Just a few of them, to be precise.

After a storied career that spanned more than a decade and made a cameo in bobsleigh, Fisher retired four years ago as an England player.

She also played rugby sevens and was a member of the Red Roses squad that won the Women’s World Cup in 2014.

She competed for England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast and for Great Britain at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where Great Britain lost to Great Britain in the bronze medal match.

However, some of her most difficult encounters were untimely.

Her hair started to fall out as the 2010 Rugby World Cup rolled around. A serious back injury is thought to have caused it.

It was all gone a little over a month later, and Fisher was discovered to have alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that destroys hair follicles.

In about five weeks, my hair completely dried. She recalls that she was holding on to strands of hair.

What transpired included a physical altercation as well as a confrontation with her new identity.

“I’ve always had issues with my alopecia.” The 41-year-old describes losing my hair as giving me a different appearance and feeling. I never feel like I fit in, as a woman.

Fisher tried to wear wigs, but they never came across as real.

She claims, “It felt like I was hiding and I didn’t want to hide.”

“It required of me to be brave and to have it,” I said. But that’s challenging. I had no sense of who I could be in the England system.

She had internal struggles as well as external issues; it was how others perceived her appearance.

“I’ve been thrown with wigs,” I said. When I was about to go to play, wigs were thrown at me outside the field, Fisher recalls.

“I’ve been asked why I’m going to pitch with women when I’m a guy. I’m not a guy, it’s obvious. I’ve been physically stowed from the restrooms.

Fisher is still dealing with the scars left by these events.

“You’re just supposed to take the hits,” she says, “because you’re a role model to so many people.”

Fisher thinks rugby, one of the most inclusive sports, has made modest advances in welcoming women of all shapes and sizes and those who have differences.

TikTok and other social media platforms have a significant impact on changing perceptions, enabling athletes to share their own stories and highlighting how they challenge the norm.

Fisher observes how the landscape changed a few years ago when examining her own career.

When she was playing, social media was still in its early stages. You were almost perceived as not taking the sport seriously, she adds if you had worked on your profile.

That has since changed, though.

“I would definitely share my story on social media if I were playing right now for sure.” It would attract attention, promote the game, and showcase a person who is physically and mentally different,” she claims.

American superstar Ilona Maher is just one of the athletes who redefine what it means to be a woman in sport.

She has millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram, making her the most popular rugby player in the world thanks to her strength and femininity.

It’s really interesting to watch Ilona Maher because she did a fantastic job, Fisher says.

Fisher claims that, in contrast, she doesn’t look feminine, which is where the problem is.

She says, “We can put a woman out there who may have muscles and may have a certain way of looking, but they still look feminine.”

We understand the relationship between women and muscles, and we accept muscular women.

We don’t understand hair and muscles, though.

Fisher has worked as a rugby pundit, motivational speaker, and leadership consultant since retiring.

She has also appeared on BBC’s “Go Hard or Go Home” and Channel 4’s “Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins.”

She wouldn’t want to change who she is if she had the option to get her entire head of hair back.

I wouldn’t change a hair movie because it would make me itchy and cause me to fall asleep. She says with pride, “It’s made me who I am today.