Hotshot Lily is back on the ball
FOOTBALL- MAD youngster Lily Metcalf was in dreamland after scoring with a header just minutes into her debut for the Lancashire U14s side.
A great achievement in itself; all the more admirable is that three months earlier the 14-year-old had been seriously ill with pancreatic failure, which left her with diabetes.
In hospital, the Haslingden High pupil tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies and her family believe she is one of a surging number of paediatric diabetes cases linked to the virus. They say her remarkable bounce back offers hope to families going through the same.
“I saw a weak, vulnerable little girl three months ago - and now I see a tower of strength,” said Lily’s mum Lindsey Robinson, from Edenfield.
“It was a massive shock. The doctors had rushed her into hospital. She had lost so much muscle and weight, and her organs had gone into shutdown.
“Had she been left any longer she could well have gone into a coma.
“The fact she was lying in a hospital bed in February crushed her confidence. It was a dark place and a confidence knock.
“She said it would be a lot of time before she would be able to go and play football.
“But the resilience she’s shown has been amazing.
“She’s getting stronger and her muscle back and her energy back and dealing with the fact she’s diabetic.
“Nurses and doctors and other parents have been saying what a tough cookie she has been. It’s taken children over 12 months to get back in the saddle.”
“She’s 14 years old and felt her world had ended, and how many kids would say the same? A lot of kids now feel exactly the same as Lily.”
Making it through the Lancs trials has given Lily a huge shot of self-belief.
The central midfielder has been football-mad since the age of three and has played for Woodbank, Bury Girls, Academy Junior in Bolton, Haslingden Girls and Bolton Wanderers.
Her identical twin sister Georgia also plays, although Lindsey, who used to work at Ramsbottom Royal British Legion, says their interests and personalities are “worlds apart”.
“She wants to make a career out of football,” said Lindsey, whose husband Wayne works at Leabrook Garden Centre in Rawtenstall.
“She loves the whole game, playing watching, talking and has done since she was three.
Her dad used to take her to watch Bury every week.
“She’s been all round the country to different stadiums with her dad.
“That’s how she got into it, and she decided she wanted to play when she was about eight.”