The mum of a college athlete who died from cancer has issued a warning over the potential dangers of the artificial turf used on some soccer pitches.
June Leahy has gone public with her story after a soccer coach discovered a connection between daughter Austen Everett’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis and her years spent playing as a goalie on crumb rubber turf.
Austen had a passion for soccer and played in goal for various teams from kindergarten right up to college. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, and sadly lost her battle with the illness in 2012.
Mum June reveals that, after Austen’s diagnosis, her childhood coach Amy Griffin began keeping a list of goalies who played on crumb rubber turf and were later diagnosed with cancer. According to NBC News, Griffin’s tally currently numbers 63.
Crumb rubber is a material made from rubber tyres. While there is some concern that carcinogens from the tyres can transfer over to the pitch material, there has been no scientific research linking the shredded rubber with cancer.
Commenting on the possible connection between the material and her daughter’s illness, June told NBC News: “We certainly didn’t think that is was harmful because we never questioned what was in it, what the make of it was. I realised, ‘Oh my God, the thing that she loved most probably killed her.’ And that was really hard.”
