Stoke City have promised to pay for Kayleigh McDonald’s treatment costs in an awkward U-turn after the women’s star was told to join an NHS waiting list after suffering injury while playing for the club.
McDonald was forced to set up a GoFundMe page to pay for the expenses accrued after suffering extensive injuries while playing for the club, who compete in the Women’s National League North, the third-tier of women’s football in England.
The club operate on a semi-professional basis as of the 2023/24 season and because McDonald had never played in the Women’s Super League or for a professional club, is not entitled to membership or aid from the Professional Footballer’s Association.
The 30-year-old defender joined Stoke in the summer and was forced to take to social media to plead for help from the football community in an emotional message, in which she claimed that the financial burden would fall onto her shoulders due to the dearth of support from the club. McDonald went on to describe the mental and emotional strain the plight inflicted on her.
McDonald wrote: “So sad to say that just when I thought the women’s game was finally getting somewhere, l receive the worst news that I will have to join the NHS waiting list for surgery after an injury I sustained playing a league game for my club.
“I’m so gutted and mentally broken with my injury, it took two and a half weeks after my scan for my injury to be explained to me by a medical professional, as well as rupturing my LCL, I’ve also now been made aware that I have a high grade 3 injury to my ACL, ruptured my IT Band, ruptured my popliteus tendon and fractured my knee.
“I’m now in my fourth-week post-injury with nothing in place. I’m having to pay to see a private consultant (which is very expensive), in the hope that my knee can get looked at and operated on in a more timely manner. I have suffered more mentally than physically with this injury, especially the fact it’s going to inevitably end my football career.
“Because, at the end of the day, what’s the point? When you get injured like this in the women’s game, you’re left to deal with it all on your own with no support. It affects my day-to-day living and my livelihood.”
She added: “I’m currently off work, not able to walk, not earning any money but still having the burden of paying my bills. Just to see a consultant it’s over a month’s waiting time… I won’t be able to live financially. This has been such a difficult time for me and something I’m really struggling with.
“I’m embarrassed to have to resort to setting up a GoFundMe in order to pay for my operation, as l have been left with no other choice. I need this operation to get back to working and earning a living… So I’m asking please, whether you’re a fan of football or a player, as a footballing community or just anyone can you help just by sharing my post even if you can’t afford to put any money in, just help in other ways for me to be able to get my surgery and my life back on track. The surgery needed is a lot as I have such a complex injury and the cost is £20,000.”
McDonald had raised over £9,000 of the £20,000 target via her fundraising page to cover the costs for her surgeries when Stoke City rescinded their original decision and agreed to help McDonald.
The McDonald incident arrives just one year after Stoke set out “ambitious plans” to transform their women’s set-up, promising significant “improvements to infrastructure and support”. Last season, the club were forced to admit last season that they were failing their women’s team having faced an online backlash after their home ground was compared to a landfill site.
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