General | 5/9/2022 11:04:00 AM

September 2021: Cassidy Leake, a graduate student at Boston University and former Texas Woman's University soccer athlete, slept in one day. While sleeping in may not seem unusual for a graduate student, sleeping in until 5 p.m. was not normal for Leake. She had been up late studying and had dealt with headaches for the past several weeks. Again, she was in graduate school, so she felt like her brain was exhausted from new information and studying. 
 
"I had headaches really bad for two weeks, but I was in grad school, so I thought maybe I was just tired," Leake said. "I thought I maybe had COVID, but I kept testing negative, so one night I was up late studying, and I went to bed, but I didn't wake up until like 4 or 5 pm."
 
Leake sleeping in was so out of the ordinary her roommate came to check on her and woke her up to make sure she was okay. 
 
"I tried to tell her [my roommate] that it was a migraine, but I wasn't all there," Leake said. "I started to say a bunch of crazy stuff like "I put my dog in the freezer" and just things that didn't make any sense. She got nervous and called 911." 
 
Leake's roommate rushed her to the hospital. 
 
"I ended up finding out I had had four strokes – that's what my headaches were – the first three," Leake said. "The fourth one was the largest one, which caused my slurred speech and confusing language."
 
On that night, Leake found out she was born with a hole in her heart. Due to medication she was taking, blood clots had formed and, because of the hole in her heart, had traveled to her brain and caused the strokes. 
 
All of her life, Leake struggled with breathing and physical fitness, especially surrounding playing soccer. 
 
"I was always told by my coaches my physical fitness was my downfall or biggest weakness and I needed to put in more time off the field to make sure I was in cardio shape to play," Leake said. "The doctors told me I had asthma, but nothing ever worked for it, so I just thought I was out of shape and had to work 50 times harder than my friends did just to even get close to where I needed to be fitness wise." 
 
That night in September, while shaded in trauma, also provided an answer to a lifetime of questioning for Leake and, in a way, provided relief. 
 
"I had no idea I had the hole in my heart," Leake said. "I told my doctors (when I was growing up) a million times that I had a hard time breathing and I was always out of breath. They told me it was asthma, and no one ever tested me for it."
 
December 2021: Because of the stroke and blood clots, Leake needed to have heart surgery. 
 
"How they explained it to me is your body is supposed to circulate clockwise, so that way you are getting the blood that is oxygenated to the rest of your body," Leake said. "My body was going the opposite direction, so I was getting bad [unoxygenated] blood into my lungs my whole life, so it never felt like I had enough oxygen, because I didn't."
 
In December 2021, Leake underwent heart surgery to repair the hole in her heart. 
 
"They went in and closed up the hole in my heart and then they said moving forward, I shouldn't have any issues with it," Leake said. "I'm on blood thinners for life, but other than that I should be normal. It took a little bit of time for my body to get used to pumping blood the right way and all that."
 
Prior to the strokes and surgery, Leake played soccer from a young age, including playing collegiate soccer at Texas Woman's from 2017-21. 
 
After finishing her collegiate soccer career, Leake believed she was done with competitive soccer. Fast forward to December 2021, Leake thought she would never be able to play soccer again, not even as an amateur. 
 
January 2022:  Five months after her stroke. Just mere weeks after heart surgery. Leake was sent the following tweet from her former TWU teammate, Bailey Heffernon: 
 
While the U.S. has had a men's paralympic team for many years, they have not had a women's team until this year. After seeing the tweet and realizing she met the qualifying conditions, Leake said she decided to email the coach and just see what happened. 
 
"I emailed them and ended up getting a call from the coach and was invited to the January training camp in Florida," Leake said. "I wasn't cleared for contact from my heart surgery yet, but I was able to go and at least get a little bit of training." 
 
After getting invited to the training camp in January, Leake traveled to Florida for five days. Unable to participate in full contact, Leake said she was not sure she would make the first cut. 
 
"I did end up getting invited back to the second camp, which I didn't expect," Leake said. Then, at the second camp is where they narrow down the roster for the World Cup. Coming from having my stroke so recently, most of the players' injuries were five to 10 years ago, so I didn't think I had a chance because there were still things I was learning about my deficits."
 
Five months after the traumatic day in September, Leake found out she made the 10-player World Cup Roster for the first ever U.S. women's paralympic team. 
 
"Honestly, I feel blessed by the whole experience," Leake said. "As much as it was traumatic and hard in so many ways, it gave me the opportunity to play again, which I never thought I would have. I think that now I feel like I can do anything. It has definitely been a huge confidence booster."
 
May 2022: On Friday, May 6, Leake and her teammates boarded a plane to Salou, Spain to play in the 2022 IFCPF Women's World Cup, on May 7-18. 
 
Leake plays center midfield and said she is excited to join the other women on the pitch who have experienced similar traumatic injuries, but all share the same love of soccer. 
 
Leake and the U.S. will play their first game on Thursday, May 12 against Spain. For the Paralympics, five players will start, and the U.S. will have five reserves. 
 
For the World Cup schedule and the link to catch Leake in action, visit U.S. Soccer. 
 
While Leake's stroke led her to a newfound dream, she said the process was not easy. For anyone going through a difficult injury or time, Leake said her advice is to stay patient. 
 
"Focus on the idea that everything you're going through is temporary," Leake said. "Be patient with the process. As far as figuring out things you're not able to do before, really try to be patient with yourself. Focus on playing for the enjoyment of it rather than the performance, because it's more frustrating if you focus on what you were used to doing."
 
Above all, Leake said she will never take a moment of playing soccer for granted. 
 
"I am obsessed with soccer," Leake said. "When I'm playing, I don't think about anything else. I just feel really content when I'm playing."