I needed time to switch off & heal

Manchester United defender Millie Turner has spoken about having a ‘new lease of life’ after being given the all clear from last season’s health scare ahead of the new WSL campaign.

But while Turner considers herself an eternal optimist, she is also grateful to the club and her teammates for their support throughout the lengthy recovery, as well as the opportunity to mentally switch off that helped her ‘heal’ during an extended break before the end of 2021/22.

Turner was very suddenly ruled out indefinitely in January upon the discovery of a problem with an artery in her neck – a rare carotid artery dissection. She could hear her heartbeat in her ear and there was significant risk of a stroke, or it potentially even being fatal.

The centre-back was immediately withdrawn from all physical activity and started treatment. Despite initially still travelling with the squad to all games, she was later granted a long holiday and opted to head to the United States to mentally unwind.

“I feel like I’m the kind of person who tries to look on the bright side of life, always,” Turner said as she spoke about the mental side of her recovery.

“The club did give me a bit of time to go away to America for a few weeks, so that helped me mentally switch off and just help me heal. I got back and felt so much better from that and then I got the good news and it’s just been on the up since then really.”

Turner reported back to United’s training ground at Carrington before pre-season began for light work and spent a number of weeks building herself up until eventually resuming full training. She has since also had some minutes in pre-season and is now looking ahead.

“Luckily, I don’t have to change anything going forward and I’m not on blood thinning medication anymore, so that’s good,” she explained.

“I’m just so happy to be back training with all the girls. There was a period of time where I thought I couldn’t even play again – I’m just so happy to be back and able to put a shirt back on.

“The girls have all been so good with me since the start of it, to stop me getting in [low] sorts of moods, they keep me positive every single day. To be honest, I couldn’t have done it without them so I’m very grateful for all of them, all of the staff, and I’m lucky to have them all.

“I’ve got a new lease of life. I think it just puts everything into perspective and now I feel like I’m on top of the world…just buzzing to get back on the pitch.”

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