This is a story of a lad who has battled through adversity and against all the odds to continue playing the game that he loves. His name is Jacob Edmonds.
His mother Yvonne takes up the story:
‘Jacob was born with club foot. This meant that he was in a plaster cast which stretched from his feet to his hips from the age of four weeks until he was three months old. He then had to wear boots and bars every day for twelve hours until he was four, when the hospital discharged him and from then on he only had to go for check ups every six months.’
Jacob’s footballing abilities even at this early age had already been noted by the Manchester City coaches who taught PE at his school, and he subsequently joined their elite squad, where he stayed until he was eight years old. He also spent time training with Manchester United and a number of other clubs kept an eye on his progress, including Burnley, Blackburn and Everton.
However, in December 2018 Jacob received some devastating news after a routine check up at the hospital. He was told that his feet had relapsed, and that they would both require a tendon transfer. He was understandably devastated by this news, but continued to play while he waited for the operation.
Seven months later, Jacob’s long and difficult journey to reposition his feet began. His biggest fear throughout the recovery process was that he might never be able to play football again. However, six months after the operation, he was able to start some one to one training, and it was around then that he also joined us.
During those early days, Jacob trained whilst in pain but remained determined throughout to regain full fitness. After twelve months of hard work, he was finally able to play a match for us, and since then he has also trained at Burnley FC’s development centre.
Jacob is currently playing for our under 14 team, and is pictured above with his coach Mohammed Sheriff. He still has moments when he struggles with his tendons but he fights through them, and has developed skills and ways of playing to help him make progress.
We are incredibly proud of Jacob’s courage and determination, and will continue to support him in any way that we can.
