The Undefeated | BRIANA SCURRY ENTERS NATIONAL SOCCER HALL OF FAME AFTER OVERCOMING BRAIN INJURY, SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND FINANCIAL WOES

As long as Robbie Scurry didn’t succumb to Alzheimer’s disease, her daughter, Briana, would hold off on committing suicide.

The idea was tantalizing: freedom from the debilitating migraines, dizziness and disorientation, as well as the financial struggles that took over Briana Scurry’s life after a career-ending brain injury in 2010. Lying listlessly on a couch daily, periodically changing the position she was curled up in, was not a life. But the former U.S. national soccer team goalkeeper wanted to be there for her mother.

Although her mother was battling a disease that stole her memory, Briana was the one who seemed to forget how strong she was. Her final gifts to her daughter before she died in 2015 were time and a reminder of how to deal with adversity.

During the four years from Scurry’s first thoughts of suicide until her mother’s death, the two-time Olympic gold medalist and 1999 World Cup winner had a change of heart. She decided, like her mother, that she wouldn’t give up, that she would fight her ailment.

The 46-year-old Scurry gets to be lauded by her peers and fans in Orlando, Florida, this weekend because she made the most crucial saves of her life after she retired from soccer.

Scurry will enter the National Soccer Hall of Fame on Saturday, the first black woman and first female goalie to be inducted. She made 175 appearances, including 159 starts, and compiled 72 shutouts and a 133-12-14 record with the national team from 1994 to 2008. Scurry, in her fourth year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame, was the lone player elected from 33 nominees. Joe Machnik, a former player, coach, referee and commissioner, joins her in the Class of 2017.

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