‘Trust your own feeling’: Everton’s Katja Snoeijs on her endometriosis diagnosis

The Netherlands striker opens up on the condition that temporarily derailed her Everton career and the symptoms to look out for

When the sharp, stabbing pain in her abdomen became so severe that she had to be substituted at half-time during an Everton match, Katja Snoeijs knew what she was experiencing was not merely “normal period pains”. And she was right.

The 29-year-old Netherlands striker has since been diagnosed with endometriosis, which affects one in 10 women. She says she counts herself lucky, because she received her diagnosis within a year and was shocked to learn the national average wait for a diagnosis in the UK is nine years.