Football Ferns defender Rebekah Stott has revealed she is battling cancer.
Rebekah Stott Photo: Richard Gosselin / Panoramic
Stott also plays for English side Brighton and Hove Albion, the club announced on social media that she was diagoned with stage three Hodgkins Lymphona three weeks ago.
While living in England playing for Brighton and Hove Albion in the FA Women's Super League, the 27-year-old had a biopsy performed after she noticed there were two lumps growing on her neck.
After being advised that she may have Lymphoma, Stott made the decision to return home to Australia.
"With Covid getting home is a bit of an issue so I was like if this is bad I'm going to need to get home as soon as possible," she said.
With Britain's health services struggling due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Stott had a prolonged wait to receive confirmation from her tests.
It was during her mandatory quarantine period upon returning to Australia that she received confirmation of her diagnosis.
Lymphoma is the cancer of the lymphatic system, which acts as the body's disease-fighting network and Hodgkins Lymphoma is a set of five sub-types of the cancer.
After doing some research, Stott found out that the cancer is very treatable, especially in younger people and she will now undergo intensive chemotherapy treatment.
Despite her situation, Stott is going into her treatment with the aim of inspiring others.
"I know it's not going to be easy but I really want to go through this with a positive attitude and try encourage and inspire others to be able to do the same," she said, "I know it's going to be hard but if I go in with that mindset then I think that's only going to help me."
After playing for Australia in representative age-grade teams, Stott decided to play for New Zealand where she has gone on to make 71 appearances for the Football Ferns.
The experienced international has played in both the 2015 and 2019 FIFA World Cups and played every minute of the Football Ferns' 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
Earlier this year, she was named in the Oceania Football Confederation's 2011-2020 team of the decade.