Captain of Great Britain's deaf women's team appeals for £10,000 after serious knee injury

Back in July, captain of the GB Deaf Women's Football squad, Claire Stancliffe, of Wellingborough, sustained a knee injury at the Deaflympics 2017 while representing GB in the bronze medal match.

She had torn her Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) - one of the four main ligaments in the knee - as well as severely bruising and fracturing a bone and partially tearing a tendon.

She said: "I'm absolutely gutted to find it's a career threatening injury.

"Football is my release from the "hearing world" and to suddenly be told I may never play again is heartbreaking."

Due to the severity of the injury, Claire has been told that her best chance of recovery is to seek private treatment with a specialist in elite sport knee injuries but to do this it will cost about £10,000, which she says she will struggle to afford.

The footballer, who has competed internationally for 10 years, has now set up her own Crowdfunding page, in a bid to raise the money needed to play.

However, if she struggles to raise the total funds needed for her recovery, she intends to use the money to fund private physio, a GameReady machine and hydrotherapy.

To help Claire, click: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/claire-stancliffe