ITV analyst Nadia Nadim was forced to abruptly leave her World Cup post after hearing her mother had been hit by a truck and killed.
The 34-year-old, who plays for Denmark’s national team despite being born in Afghanistan, left the studio during ITV’s coverage of the Denmark-Tunisia draw on Tuesday upon learning that her mother, Hamida, had been hit by a truck after leaving a gym.
“Words cannot describe what I’m feeling,” Nadim wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday. “I have lost the most important person in my life and it happened so sudden and unexpected. She was only 57. She was a warrior who had fought for every inch of her life.”
Nadim’s family moved frequently throughout Afghanistan until Hamida and her five daughters fled the country in 2000 when the Taliban executed her Army general father, Rabena Khan.
It is not clear where the 57-year-old was killed.
“She didn’t give me life once but twice, and everything I/ we are is because of her,” Nadim wrote. “I have lost my home and I know nothing’s gonna ever feel the same. Life is unfair and I don’t understand why her and why this way. I love you and I will see you again.”
Nadim currently plays for Louisville Racing FC of the NWSL and outside of soccer became a doctor in January 2022.