– It is not a given that I can play football again. I don’t know what my head is going to take. That’s what a broken-down and tired Runa Lillegård says to news. She has decided to speak publicly for the first time about her desperate health situation. The Vålerenga profile has not played a single match, nor trained properly, since the bizarre situation arose in the penultimate league match last year. It was not a cruel tackle she suffered. She didn’t break a bone. But in the last second of the match, she simply got a ball in the head. What looked like a completely normal incident on a football pitch, players getting the ball in the head all the time, has turned out to be much more serious than at first glance. No one knew that this was the start of a nightmare. – I have a constant headache in the area where the ball hit. The doctors say that it is not normal, but at the same time not abnormal. They kind of don’t want to worry me. But worry, she does. She still struggles with headaches, difficulty concentrating and gets a high heart rate very easily. Life has suddenly been turned upside down for the 22-year-old, who no longer has the health to play football. Or health to function as she wishes in everyday life. – The doctors are a bit puzzled by this here, she says to news. Career may be over. That is Runa Lillegård’s fear. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news Googled symptoms She remembers the date well. It was 23 October last year, and Vålerenga won 6-0. That’s about the only thing she remembers from that fateful day. It hurt when the ball hit her, but she walked off the artificial turf at Intility on her own two feet. Later that evening she felt dizzy, nauseous and had a headache. She took out her phone and googled “concussion symptoms”. – Then I could tick all the boxes, she remembers. Without being significantly stressed, she read on reliable websites that it can take a few weeks before you are completely symptom-free again after a concussion. Runa Lillegård is still part of the environment in Vålerenga. But in civil. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news Physiotherapist Helene Moa was one of the first to leave Lillegård after the ball hit her head. In front of news, Moa describes that Lillegård was very present immediately afterwards and answered all control questions well. She emphasizes that she followed the guidelines for the management of concussions, and also did not consider the other symptoms serious enough to suggest an MRI or check the head in other ways. But when things had not improved as expected after a few weeks, she referred Lillegård to a medical specialist. – Is there anything you think you should have done differently? – I mean I followed up Runa in a good way afterwards, replies Moa. Don’t blame anyone Runa Lillegård is of the same opinion, and responds in this way to questions about whether she thinks Vålerenga should have taken the situation more seriously. – No, not really. I feel they have supported me well and taken it seriously, she says. When she first got to a check-up, the doctor is said to have reassured her that 80 percent of concussion sufferers are completely cured within a fairly short time. – But then you have the 20 percent of which I am a part, she sighs. – But did you do what you were supposed to? Did you take the treatment seriously? – I feel I did things right, but in retrospect I could have taken it even more seriously. But I was told it was just a minor concussion, she says. Runa Lillegård sees the fateful situation again. She pretty much only remembers the date. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news Today, everyday life has become tough for the young footballer. She often has to find a dark and quiet room and lie down when the pain becomes too great and dizziness sets in. In the beginning, the days consisted of lying straight out and listening to audiobooks. But in despair, she quickly noticed that she did not catch anything that was said. Her mind is no longer able to concentrate over time. When she had to cook in the first weeks after the bang, she had to choose the lightest dishes so as not to tire herself out completely. There was a lot of pasta and minced meat with ketchup in that period, she remembers. – If I had spent 15 minutes cooking, I needed several hours afterwards to relax, she says. What does the future hold? It is a question Runa Lillegård often asks herself. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news – Gets completely confused She uses a metaphor to explain how she feels. She feels like an energy box that runs out of power very quickly and never has more than 20 percent battery. – You go to bed tired and wake up tired. And I want to say that I have a constant headache, it never goes away, she says. Instead, she finds that the headache gets worse when she does different things. Especially if she is concentrating or trying to train hard. Everyday life is characterized by the new condition. When, for example, she has to take public transport, her head can completely shake. She describes it as her brain not understanding what is happening. – I get completely confused. It feels like I have one foot in one world and one in another. I would like to have both feet in the same world, but that’s not possible, she says. Runa Lillegård (on the left in the middle next to Eline Hegg) has always been a great football talent. Here she is with Martin Ødegaard and Brede Hangeland at one of the NFF’s talent camps in 2015. Photo: Altaposten – Are you scared? – It’s lying to say that I don’t get scared. I think anyone who had known that the body is unable to handle what you are going through would have been scared. And that it goes so slowly, because you don’t know how long it will take. You tend to get a little worried about that, even though I’m used to it now. – Has it gotten any better for you? – I have become used to having an insane amount of headaches. Had a normal person experienced this headache, it would have been incredibly taxing. But now I’ve become so used to living with a lot of chronic pain, she says. Runa Lillegård is heading towards an uncertain future. Financially, she is also excited about what will happen to her. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news And suddenly an extra load has appeared in an already demanding everyday life. In the aftermath of the incident, unexpected problems arose with the insurance policies. – I was shocked when I was rejected by Nav Lillegård, I had what she describes as good insurance both as a footballer and as a private person, but since the accident happened in a match, she has been told that it is occupational insurance that she must rely on. And there she had her application for payment rejected. The injury does not qualify, according to Nav, to be classified as an occupational accident. “In assessing whether the incident on 23/10/22 can be considered an occupational accident, we have emphasized that you are a professional footballer. Many incidents, such as slipping/falling, being pushed over or hit by a ball, will in a number of contexts be sufficient to satisfy the law’s requirements for occupational accidents. But for a football player in a match that is normally within the framework of what can be expected,” writes Nav in the rejection that news has gained access to. “The fact that an opponent hits the ball in your head is therefore considered not outside the scope of what can be expected of a professional footballer in the course of the game, even if it was clearly experienced as sudden and unexpected”, they state. The bad news hit like a bomb. – I was shocked when I was rejected by Nav, and I disagree with their reasoning that this can be expected only because I am a footballer. I don’t think many people have had such long-lasting after-effects from a head injury, so it is frustrating that Nav refers to this as completely normal. I was sure that this would go well, she says. Runa Lillegård struggles to find strength in everyday life. Such small exercises cost more than before. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news – A completely different life now The 22-year-old has now appealed the decision to Nav and is waiting for a response. Today, she receives sick pay that corresponds to 100 percent of her salary. – The financial consequences will be greater if the damage lasts for more than a year, she says. Knowing that October is fast approaching. Those who know Lillegård well describe her as a training machine. Football and training were her life until she hit the ball in the head last year. – There are big contrasts, it’s a completely different life now. I can’t remember what it’s like to not have a headache all the time. Vålerenga coach Nils Lexerød tells news that he notices at Lillegård how demanding the situation is for her. But at the same time, she seems to be handling it well. – It shows how vulnerable the players are in the performance of their profession. How little it takes for it to be stolen from them. In one moment you get a lot of attention and get to do what you like best in the world, and suddenly it is taken away from them, he says. – Are you frightened that something like this could happen? – Yes, I have thought a lot about how little was needed. One thing is the head injuries where you see that there is an obvious bang. But such situations as with Runa happen all the time. And how slim the margins must have been… Be thankful for good health when you have it. That is the advice from Runa Lillegård. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news Now that she has realized how fragile life is, she has new goals and priorities. The main goal is no longer to return to the everyday life she had as a footballer. It is much more important for her to return to an everyday life where she can function as a human being. – Impossible to find an answer Lillegård is considered a very promising player and has international matches for several of Norway’s U-national teams. Now she fears her career is already over, at the age of 22. – How far away are you from playing a top league match now? – It is impossible to answer. You have to ask higher powers about that, it seems impossible to find an answer. Of course it can come off, that’s what I’m hoping for. Runa Lillegård has become accustomed to watching football training from the sidelines. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news – Your contract with Vålerenga expires on 1 January, is there anything you are stressing about? – Yes, it is a moment of stress that is not entirely lucky. It’s a bit bad timing that the contract expires, and you don’t quite know how things are going. I think a lot about the fact that I might not have a job in January. The future is one of the most uncomfortable things about all of this, she says. She has had time to reflect a lot on what has happened. She never imagined getting a career-threatening injury at such a young age. But the worst thing is not that she can’t play football. – The worst thing is that I can’t do normal things that everyone else can do. I wish I was more grateful when I was healthy. Don’t just think that “it’s hard to take the exam”, but rather be grateful that you can do it, she says. And states: – You don’t appreciate your health until you actually struggle with it.
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Runa (22) got a ball in the head – fears life will never be the same – Sport Langlesing
