Soccer community unites to help Sally Shipard following cancer diagnosis

Twelve hours after a word spread about her ovarian cancer diagnosis, a fundraiser had surged past the $22,000 mark. Expect the $30,000 target to be blown away quickly.

The former Matildas and Canberra United star, now 35, has been diagnosed with mucinous adenocarcinoma and told not to make plans for the next six months.

Davis has undergone a peritonectomy - a surgical procedure used to remove the lining of the abdominal cavity - and is now staring down the barrel of at least six months of chemotherapy.

Alicia Ferguson - the former Matilda once thrust onto the international stage as a 16-year-old - has started a fundraiser to compensate for Davis' loss of earnings and to assist with medical costs.

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Among those to contribute are Michelle Heyman, Lydia Williams, Kyah Simon, Julie Dolan, Emily van Egmond, Heather Reid, Ellie Brush, Caitlin Munoz, Alanna Kennedy, Katrina Gorry, Tameka Yallop and Nicki Flannery, who thanked Davis for "always inspiring".

"I will never fully understand what this experience is like for Sal. She can only describe it as having the rug ripped out from under her feet. The world she once knew, has been turned on its head," Davis' wife April wrote in a message shared on the page.

"Sal has been advised not to make plans for at least six months following the peritonectomy surgery. This is to cover the hospital stay, recovery time, and the chemo journey ahead.

"This experience is hard, intense and at times exhausting in many ways. As a footballer, Sal was open about her mental health struggles and she continues to work on this with the support of a psych from the AIS days.

"The focus and strength she utilised as an elite athlete has been woken from a slumber and we're excited about this. My mental health naturally gets thrown into the mix as I try to juggle work, caring for a velcro dog, and growing our food.

"We've gone from talking about what varieties of cauliflower to plant to talking about the 'cauliflower cyst' on her ovary that has spread through the peritoneal region.

"The mental health aspect of this is huge and it's scary how this intersects in the form of relationship."

One has to marvel at Davis' career.

She was an Olympian at 16 and retired with an eating disorder at 21, only to make a successful comeback to play at two World Cups, win a Julie Dolan Medal and win an A-League women's championship with Canberra United.

For a time she was always easy enough to pick out of a line-up at McKellar Park, having asked friends to draw moustaches on her face to raise funds for Movember, the month-long campaign to raise awareness and money for men's health.

In 2011, she would bravely go public with her battle with bulimia in the hope her story would inspire others to seek help.

Then she retired again at 26. This time it was for good. A degenerative knee injury forced her hand after hampering her final two seasons.

Where to then for an accomplished soccer player forced to walk away from the game?

To the end of an aisle, of course.

Davis became a marriage celebrant while completing a carpentry apprenticeship.

But, like her time on the soccer field once was, that career is on hold.

Davis revealed the news with a post simply saying: "Bugger."

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