It is an incurable disease which affects nearly 100,000 people in France according to the latest statistics. For Amandine Tissier, professional handball player, the verdict fell at the end of 2018. A real psychological shock for the 28-year-old sportswoman. “At that time, like everyone else, I didn’t know what sclerosis was”, she says. The young woman then plays on the side of Brest and despite her illness, she becomes champion of France last season.
Today, despite her courage, Amandine Tissier is forced to put her career on hold, the time to feel better. “At the beginning of this year, my neurologist warned me after a brain MRI, that the disease was not progressing in the right direction. She is unstable and does not fall asleep as she should on medication. It sucks … “, she confides. If she wanted to start the season with her new club Nantes, Amandine was finally forced to take a break. “When you are a pro player, you have a crazy schedule. If you add the sessions at the hospital, the trips, the care: it no longer becomes manageable. I want and must stabilize the disease “, insists the handball player.
I say that my career is on hold because, at this hour, I don’t know if I will be able or if I will want to resume
But if that sounds like a halt, the professional sportswoman doesn’t want to face the worst right away. “I am saying that my career is in parentheses because, at this time, I do not know if I will be able or if I will want to resume”, specifies the player. If for the moment the disease has not yet reached too advanced a stage, Amandine Tissier knows that she must expect more complicated times. “I can still walk. For the rest, I try to stay optimistic. I am not yet afraid, because I am thinking of something else. I struggle”, she concludes.