The I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here star has opened up on an ‘invisible injury’ that came to light after a tough sliding tackle from a team mate in training
I’m A Celebrity’s Alex Scott has opened up with a health battle she’s going to have to live with for the rest of her life. The former Lioness and Arsenal star explained how she discovered she had osteoarthritis when she picked up an injury during training.
She previously explained: “It was a tough training session, and a slide-tackle from one of my team-mates rolled my ankle. I immediately knew ‘this is serious.’ I was in chronic pain and [the doctor] told me I’ve got osteoarthritis.” She exclaimed: “Arthritis? I’m in my twenties! I haven’t got arthritis.”
At the time, Alex said all she could focus on was whether she would be fit to play in the upcoming World Cup games. She continued: “You don’t think about long-term – they say” you’ve got osteoarthritis, I’m like ‘OK, how do I get onto the pitch on Sunday? Just tell me tha’t.
”I’ve now got to live with this problem and manage it for the rest of my career. And not only my career, what’s after my career – my life.”
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and affects millions worldwide. It occurs when the protective cartilage that cushions the ends of the bones wears down.
She stressed that the diagnosis had nothing to do with her decision to retire in 2017, explaining that she simply wanted to start a new chapter of her sporting career.
She went on: “[The condition] was never going to stop me doing what I wanted to do, what I wanted to achieve. You find a way. Yes, it’s an invisible injury, but it really doesn’t have to stop you.”
She says that managing the condition boils down to taking each day as it comes and not putting too much pressure on herself.
“That was hard for me at first as I’m someone who wants to push myself,” she said. “But when the pain of osteoarthritis kicks in that’s not always an option.
Discussing her condition in an advertisement for pain-relief gel FlexiSeq, she added: “Recently my arthritis has been really quite bad. I went running one day and the next day my ankle was just awful.
“I was going to a fashion event in London that evening and I couldn’t physically get my ankle into the boots I was meant to be wearing.
“As a result of that I had to go back to a physio to get some help. The key for me is being able to acknowledge when you’re struggling. There is no shame in putting your hand up and saying ‘I need help.’”
Alex, 41, was caught giving some “help” to one of the unpalatable meals in the I’m a Celebrity camp this week. She was spotted on camera opening a sneaky sachet of salt to season a grim-looking dish of crocodile feet and veg, costing her camp-mates one one star won by Aitch.
She admitted: “I can get a little stir-fry thing going on and add some flavours in. I know people are gonna be happy with that.” People were happy with it at the time, pronouncing it one of the nicest meals they h’d had in the camp so far.
However they were less happy after realising that the entire group was going to be penalised because of Alex’s contraband.
Looking at the footage, show host Declan Donnelly said: “So we think it’s a sachet of salt that she’s nicked from the hotel and she’s had in her bag for a week.”
Source: Mirror
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