Aston Villa and England midfielder Missy Bo Kearns has revealed she experienced a miscarriage last month, describing it as a 'different type of grief'. The 25-year-old had announced her pregnancy just over two weeks earlier before sharing the tragic loss of her and partner Liam Walsh’s baby.
Speaking to ITV News, Kearns said she initially thought she was experiencing pregnancy symptoms on 18 March when she had a temperature of 42C and was shaking. However, Aston Villa team doctor Jodie Blackadder-Weinstein advised her to call Walsh and go to hospital. 'It was one of the biggest shocks of my life,' Kearns said. 'I’d literally been doing pilates and gym an hour before, and my whole life just changed like that.' She was diagnosed with sepsis and had lost the baby.
The couple endured 'four days of hell in hospital', she added. 'I’m so thankful for the doctors here at Villa, they probably saved my life because I had sepsis, and while having that, I wasn’t even thinking about the sepsis, it was: “I’ve lost my child.”' Kearns said the psychological impact has been difficult, but she hopes sharing her story will help others who suffer in silence.
'People might not realise how much of a toll it actually has on someone,' she said, noting the emotional crash after the excitement of pregnancy. She urged those affected to seek support from charities like Tommy’s. Returning to normal life at Villa has been challenging: 'When you realise the plans that you had coming up aren’t the same plans any more, this is when it starts to hit you.'
Despite the ordeal, Kearns remains focused on next year’s World Cup. 'My plan while I was pregnant was to make the World Cup squad, and that’s not changed,' she said. 'I’ve realised there’s more to life than football, but now I’m going to enjoy every minute of football like it’s my last because it could have been.'
