Lisa Aitken: Squash champion on road back from illness and a future in whisky
- Published
Aitken competed at the 2010 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, missing the 2014 event in Glasgow
Lisa Aitken is firmly back to winning ways after serious illness interrupted her squash career and now the Scottish champion is dreaming of running her own whisky company.
The 29-year-old from Montrose spent two years out of her sport after contracting dengue fever in 2014.
And now she looks back on "probably the scariest moment of my life" while looking forward to a new career path.
Vomiting, hallucinations, blind in one eye
Aitken was quarantined in hospital and partially lost her sight after contracting the mosquito-borne tropical disease in Kuala Lumpur.
"In training I was starting to see two squash balls, then three," she told 大象传媒 Scotland. "The day before the first game of the tournament, that's when I started throwing up.
"I was at the event on my own - no coach, no team-mates. I did something quite stupid and just got a taxi straight to the airport and paid for the first flight back to the UK.
"I took quite ill on the flight. Fortunately there was a doctor on board, although I don't actually remember that happening. I got back to Leeds and went straight to hospital and woke up a day-and-a-half later in a confined room with someone in a protective suit, who wasn't sure what was wrong with me.
"I was confined, not knowing what was wrong, how long it's going to last and if it's going to get worse. It's probably the scariest moment of my life.
"I had a week-and-a-half of vomiting, hallucinations, going blind in one eye. Then the diagnosis came through. Fortunately, I'd only been bitten once. If you get bitten again while dengue fever is in your blood, it's fatal."
The after-effects left Aitken "wiped out" and she eventually made it back to the world tour circuit in 2017, starting back in Malaysia.
"Just to land in that country and smile, then I knew that I had beaten it," she said.
"I actually played really well, getting to the semi-final and lost to the eventual winner but that didn't matter. I had overcome what I thought was impossible for three years."
'I had to start small to work through my fears'
During her recovery from illness, the biggest goal Aitken had was simply getting on a train from her hometown to nearby Dundee.
"I had developed a lot of anxiety around travelling and being out of my comfort zone, which was basically at home with my family," she said.
"I had to start small. I'd take the train to Dundee, come back and know that was okay, I'm not going to die. I built from there - I went to England, I went to France, just for leisure and to work through my fears."
Aitken successfully defended her Scottish title in March - her sixth career win overall - and in September will begin a brewing and distilling degree at Heriot-Watt University, where Scottish Squash is based.
"That outlet from squash is something I am passionate about," she added. "My dad has taught me a lot. He's a collector. From a kid, I've been going to auctions and visiting distilleries. My hobby could be a career, that's really exciting."