“Last year was very wild”
Seriously ill: Ex-footballer gives update
October 24, 2025 – 8:53 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
Irini Ioannidou is battling an incurable illness. A year after the findings were announced, she has now contacted us with a message – and is starting a call for donations.
In November 2024, Irini Ioannidou caused a stir with shocking news: The long-time Bundesliga player announced that she was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and said she would fight the still incurable disease. Ioannidou also posted a call for donations to finance the expensive treatment against the degenerative disease. The goal of 90,000 euros was reached within just two days.
Now the 34-year-old, who played for SGS Essen from 2010 until the end of her career in 2021, has come forward with an update – and started a new appeal for donations.
“After the first call for donations, the past year was very wild, crazy, with ups and downs,” Ioannidou wrote on Friday gofundme.com. “However, this year I was able to get to know a lot of people who influenced me positively in their own way and showed me opportunities and experiences that I probably wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
She continued: “Thanks to your help, I was able to try out a lot of therapeutic measures over the year. So I now know what the right path, the right approach and the right therapies are for me, which I would now like to carry out in the long term.” Ioannidou explained: “This is also the reason for the renewed call, to make the already positive effects larger, even if they may seem so small.”
With the new goal of 99,999 euros, she hopes to have better options for treatment, including through chiropractors, infusion therapy and magnetic resonance therapy.
“I really appreciate your help and can’t thank you enough,” Ioannidou concluded her message with emotional words. “I cannot express in words how blessed I am to have such people, both known and unknown, around me.”