Have a heart! How Banyana's Andile Dlamini kept out cardiac complications to shine brightest

Banyana Banyana football star Andile Dlamini's world almost came crashing down two years ago.

The multi-award-winning goalkeeper faced a battle for her life from complications after catching Covid-19 at the height of the pandemic in 2020 resulted in her having fluid in her heart.

The Mamelodi Sundowns stopper had heart infusion therapy and couldn't run, jump or even walk long distances – a life and career-threatening prospect for a person who makes her living through darting and sprawling across the goal to keep out shots on her goal.

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In her own mind, she reasoned that the illness came about because she was becoming vocal and even antsy about the growth of the women's game, which was still not getting as much support or funding as the men's version.

Also, that she needed a pause to reflect and be grateful for how far she had travelled.

"I went through a heart infusion during Covid and had to stay home for about five to six months," she told News24.

"I came back from that and took up like I never got sick. To see myself not being able to play football… I felt like it was a pause, like it was punishment because there was a time when I was asking: 'Why aren't things moving or changing for women footballers?'.

"This was before the success. Me being paused was God trying to tell me that I needed to concentrate on the bigger picture and that this was not my time to quit or give up.

"The heart infusion doesn't allow you to jump, run or walk [far] distances. You have a tight chest. When they say you have a heart infusion, it has water; mine was the size of my nail on the small finger.

"That amount of water didn't allow me to jog, walk a distance and I