Ringwood’s Chelsea Witnish has endometriosis but still plays for South Croydon Football Club
Ringwood’s Chelsea Witnish, 25, has a little-known condition called endometriosis but she has not let it hinder her love of being active.
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TO BE a footballer, you need to be tough, but enduring unbearable pain each month makes you tougher. Just ask Chelsea Witnish.
The 25-year-old from Ringwood is playing her first year with South Croydon Football Club as part of the Eastern Region Women’s Football competition.
Chelsea also has a little known condition called endometriosis.
The disease, in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the womb on other parts of the body, affects one in 10 women — many of those unaware they have it.
Symptoms can often present during teen years but often diagnosis is delayed until women are in their 20s. The cause is unknown. There is no cure.
The disease affects Chelsea’s life in every way; though she has not let it hinder her love of being active, still showing up to training sessions only weeks after surgery.
Chelsea said she was diagnosed this year after an increase in what she thought was “normal” period pain.
“I often had this constant dull pain which I could handle but then all of a sudden I would get jabbing pain,” Chelsea said. “My mum has endometriosis and so she said I should get it looked at.
“I couldn’t work when I had the pain. I have a very physical job but when I get like that I can’t move, I can’t do anything.
“I go to the gym and play netball twice a week. I play football but I got to the stage where I couldn’t do any of it. It’s not fun.”
An Endo High Tea is being held on Sunday, August 5, at her club to raise money for research.
South Croydon Football Club president Cathy White said she was keen to hold the event because she had seen first hand the work that Endometriosis Australia had done to help friends, family and club members suffering.
Ms White said football clubs were usually seen as male-dominated spaces, but when men became more aware of issues women faced, and vice versa, everyone was empowered.
“Every man has a mother, sister, aunt, girlfriend or daughter,” Ms White said.
Ms White said she hoped this “small step” was the beginning of wider awareness through the Eastern Football League and called for a dedicated endometriosis awareness round to be held in the women’s football and netball seasons.
Chelsea said the club was supportive during her diagnosis, and other players, both men and women, wanted to learn and understand more about the disease.
“The club has been so supportive, everyone was asking after me, the boys would ask me lots of questions, and now they are doing this fundraiser.
“I think it’s important for the boys to know why their sister, girlfriend, mum is in pain.
“We are not just being wusses — the pain is real.”
In March, Minister for Health Greg Hunt announced the government would provide $2.5 million in medical research as part of the National Action Plan for Endometriosis
For more details or to make a donation https://hightimefortea2018.everydayhero.com/au/south-croydon-football-club
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