Ellen White says punctured lung from acupuncture accelerated her retirement

England’s record goalscorer Ellen White has revealed she suffered a punctured lung last year, a “traumatic” injury which accelerated her retirement.

White, who scored 52 times in 113 appearances for the Lionesses, helped England win Euro 2022 and said she knew heading into the tournament that she was going to call it a day.

The former Manchester City striker told BBC Sport she had received acupuncture from a specialist sourced by the club to treat a back problem following the Tokyo Olympics.

“It punctured my lung, which isn’t something that happens normally, obviously,” the 33-year-old said. “It was a lot for me to have to go through and a big reason that accelerated my want to retire.

“It was a really traumatic time for me and something that I’m still figuring out now, still working through.

“I had to wait for the lung to basically inflate again. I had a needle put into my chest to drag all the air out then hopefully the lung would inflate again – which it has.

“At the time, I think for me, I just got into a zone of: ‘I need to get back playing. We’ve got these games – I want to be back playing for my club; I want to be back playing for England.”

Manchester City announced last August that White was set for a brief spell on the sidelines to receive treatment for a “medical issue”. Less than three weeks later she scored twice in England’s 8-0 win over North Macedonia.

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