https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2018/08/06/shes-got-that-fighting-attitude-frederick-soccer-star-continues-recovery-after-stroke-in-romania/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ba05911721a7
As a kid, Heather Hawkins once watched her sister,
Annie Wickett, get hit in the face during an indoor soccer game and
continue to play as if nothing had happened, despite blood running down
her cheek.
“She’s just a beast,” Hawkins said recently. “Nothing can stop her.”
During
a game toward the end of her senior season at Tuscarora High in
Frederick, Md., Wickett was in pain after colliding with an opponent but
pointed for her coach to remain on the sideline after the referee
stopped play so that she could stay on the field and finish the game.
“There
are tons of stories like that,” Annie’s dad, Scott Wickett, said. “It’s
not just about personal toughness; she wants to be out there to help
her team win.”
Annie’s toughness is being tested
again, unlike ever before and nearly 5,000 miles from home. The
25-year-old Frederick native, who played last season for the Washington
Spirit Reserves of the Women’s Premier Soccer League, signed a contract
to play for Olimpia Cluj in Romania’s top women’s league last month. One
week after joining the club, she suffered a stroke after a training
session on July 12 and underwent emergency surgery to remove a blood
clot from her brainstem. Scott Wickett and his wife, Carol Ann, caught
the first available flight to Romania and have been with Annie since.
“She’s
been transferred to a rehab hospital and she’s definitely getting
stronger every day,” Scott said in a phone interview last week. “She’s
got that fighting attitude and she’s really pushing herself. We fully
expect her to recover 100 percent. Whether that’s professional athlete
100 percent or just living capacity is yet to be seen, but she’s
definitely improving.”
Kristi Jacobs Woods, a
family friend who played indoor soccer with Wickett and is a well-known
figure in the Frederick soccer community, started a GoFundMe page
with Wickett’s parents’ blessing to raise money for their stay in
Romania and Annie’s long rehabilitation process still to come. Scott
said he expects the family to be in Romania for another one or two weeks
before Annie is transferred to a rehab hospital in the Washington
area. As of Monday, more than 150 people had donated more than $10,000
toward the $20,000 goal.
“If there is any way
you can donate please do,” tweeted Mark Parsons, Wickett’s coach with
D.C. United Women in 2012. “Annie is an angel, always helping others.”
“It’s
a very close-knit soccer community and everybody knew Annie,” said
Woods, who is planning additional fundraising events for the family,
including a foot golf tournament, in the coming weeks. “She was the one
who everyone would want to play for them. She’s fantastic. So many
people admired her for the way she played. … All she ever wanted out of
life was to keep playing ball and play at the highest level. I think for
a lot of women in the [Frederick] women’s league, [her stroke] really
hit home because she’s the age of a lot of their daughters. She’s very
much a role model.”
At
Tuscarora, Wickett helped the Titans to the 2009 Maryland 3A state
title as a junior and a state semifinal appearance the following year.
She played club soccer for the Bethesda Riptide throughout high school
and played goalkeeper at Eastern Kentucky before transferring to U-Conn.
Wickett was the Huskies’ starting left back as a senior in 2015 and
helped the team advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
After
graduating, Wickett, a die-hard Washington Capitals fan, played for the
Women’s Premier Soccer League’s Boston Breakers Reserves in 2016 before
joining the Washington Spirit Reserves last season. Wickett was also a
member of FC Frederick’s PRO23 team for the last two years. In Romania,
she hoped to gain valuable playing experience before eventually
returning to the U.S. to join the National Women’s Soccer League.
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