'I felt broken' Kildare's Mary Hulgraine on the pain of miscarriage and how faith got her through

If there is one LGFA player who oozes positivity, encouragement, and determination, it is Kildare's Mary Hulgraine. However, the past few years have been an uphill climb for her.

The 29-year-old has been extremely open in the past about her addiction to alcohol and oxycontin, something she became heavily reliant on following surgery in the States years ago.

She is fond of the odd inspirational quote, regularly uploading videos to social media, but the last two years have once again tested her strength as well as her faith.

Chatting with The GAA Social podcast this month, Mary gave a very in-depth account of how she felt when she had learned that she had miscarried.

'I was a couple days shy of being four months pregnant, and I lost the baby and I remember being in hospital after the miscarriage and the surgeon coming up to me and saying the surgery didn't go right, we need to do it again.'

Spending two weeks in hospital and after two major surgeries, she said 'I remember sitting in the bed, and I was so broken and I don't know what I was praying to. I had a faith, but I remember going, 'I just don't want this emptiness inside me. I felt broken. It was similar to something I had a few years ago with addiction.'

Revealing that she always had a 'seed of faith,' but upon reading a quote from the Bible, which said 'God will come to the most broken hearted,' this for the player was a light bulb moment.

For me, last year with the baby, I was broken, but I had no other solution. I have tried everything, and nothing has worked. I was calling out for something to help me...when I read that line in the Bible, it made sense to me because there were times in my life when I was really broken, God showed up.'

A true dog lover, Mary also had to let one of her nearest and dearest go this year, her dog Bailey. For Mary, her pets were something that not only helped her through her struggles but gave her a sense of security, even to the point where they would be with her everywhere she went.

When she was at her lowest, she said, 'I got this dog, and I had never felt love. I was very shut off emotionally and remember getting this dog and thinking, 'I absolutely love ya.'

'He had been through everything with me. There were days I didn't feed myself, but the dog got chicken and it didn't bother me, once he was ok he was like my little baby.'

After losing her own child, she soon found out that Bailey had cancer.

'Bailey was home for me,' but when he was gone, struggling, she was told by a friend that 'god brought that dog to keep you going, and now he is saying his job is done.'

Despite the dark times, there is one aspect that has never changed, and that is her determination on and off the pitch.

While concentrating on her fitness, she also tries to encourage those around her, often giving motivation through her social media posts.

Some messages are purely inspiring, while others have a hint of religion throughout, with a few responding negatively to this. However, the goalie said that within a few weeks of putting out these thoughts, her following soon jumped to over 300k, with many of them inspired by her faith.

While chatting to the presenters, she told them, 'The darkness can't live with the light,' for Mary, while her past has been a rocky road and while she may hit a road block now and again, she knows that her faith is something that will always keep her going.

You Might Also Like

LGFA's Mary Hulgraine finds silver lining as Kildare lift cup just weeks after baby loss