Leigh Nicol smiles on the lawn again
.
And he does so by being an example of overcoming a tough stage in his life from which he rises stronger.
The young Scottish footballer was the victim of a hacking of her mobile phone and saw her life turn upside down after the publication of photos of her private life on adult websites.
At the time,
Nicol was 18 years old and starting to emerge in the lower ranks of the Scotland team.
Leigh, who is now a member of Crystal Palace and who has used football to get out of a serious depression,
learned that her photos were appearing on adult pages through a private message on Instagram
in which a man showed her the images .
That event changed all the plans of the player, who had gone through teams such as Reading, London Bees, Milwall or Charlton Athletic.
"The fact that I played soccer made the images spread rapidly without my being able to control it,"
the player now tells in an interview with
Sky Sports, a
medium in which she recounts the ordeal she has experienced in recent years, in the that it was difficult for him to find equipment since he was hacked in 2019.
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Leigh Nicol Crystal Palace
Problems finding equipment after hacking your mobile
"They did not want my name to be identified with their club and with their brand,"
says the player, who tells how there have been several clubs that were interested in her to sign her and then backed down when they learned that she had suffered a hack.
A fact that was a great blow to the player, who
left football and fell into a deep depression.
"I can understand why people commit suicide because of things like this because I don't know how I managed to overcome it
. It took a change of perspective and surround myself with the right people. Without them I am sure that everything would be different", remarks Nicol, who admits continue to have anxiety despite his great recovery.
A fact that happens in the middle of a situation that has not yet been normalized.
"I still receive comments. At least one a night. It's frustrating to be recognized just for that," he says
.