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EXCLUSIVE: Maisie Symonds battled through life-threatening illness to resume football career and pursue England U23 dream

Maisie Symonds can remember dragging herself to Wembley to watch England win the Euros. The Brighton midfielder, who had represented the U19s at a European Championship two months earlier, was suffering with what she thought was a bad cold.

'I was adamant that I was going to the final,' Symonds tells Mail Sport. 'I was with my friends and they were saying 'come on, you've got to come' sort of thing.

'I remember I had a double espresso shot, I had a turmeric shot and was just getting the painkillers down.

'Then we went to the game, celebrated together and the next day it just all hit me.