10 February 2024 , 17:42
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A teenager who only began kicking a ball after her left leg was removed is in England’s first women’s amputee football team.
Marni Voak, 16, could barely walk before her surgery in 2022 but will now be heading to Colombia in November for the first Women’s Amputee Football World Cup. The talented youngster, who trained with Arsenal and now plays fortnightly with Chelsea, said: “Football means everything to me. It’s been the best outcome since losing my leg.
“[England defender] Lucy Bronze is my hero, she is the player I really look up to.”
Marni, who was born premature at 29 weeks, got an infection in her left leg from a cannula when she was three weeks old, which impacted its growth. Despite extensive surgery, Marni was in chronic pain, with her left leg 10cm shorter than her right. So, in May 2022, aged 15, she opted for above-the-knee amputation and was in hospital for five months.
Marni's left leg was amputated when she was 15 (Caters News Agency)
England's Lucy Bronze is Marni's hero (PA)Complications meant she kept visiting until August last year. And in April a staff member at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital told her Arsenal train with amputees every Monday in a park near the hospital and suggested she tag along.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
Marni’s mum Emma, 39, said: “That’s when Marni’s footballing journey kicked off. She was a star from the second she went out on that field… she smashed it.
“She barely walked before the amputation. This is a dream come true for her to play for England. And when she went to a football camp in Poland in the summer, she described it as the best week of her life.”
Marni, of Welwyn Garden City, Herts, is also helping others. Emma said: “She coaches a young girls’ team made up of children who are having problems at school or who have disabilities. To go from barely walking a year ago to this is just amazing.”