Boma: How my football career-ending injury led me into depression

Boma Akpore says an ankle injury ended his football career and plunged him into months of depression.

The 2021 BBNaija housemate spoke about his short football career in an interview with Chude Jideonwo, TV host.

He said people promised to help him emigrate, prompting his exit from Nigeria and relocation to New York.

Boma also disclosed that he became stranded after those who promised to help him relocate stopped communicating with him.

Desperate for a way out of his predicament, Boma said he tried his hands on many things, one of which was football.

“I went to Poland, played in a small club, put myself together. I went back to Belgium from where I had contact with an agent, now to Scottish Premiership. I had a small injury I was nursing,” the reality TV star narrated.

“I usually don’t get injuries. If I’ll get injured, maybe muscular injuries at the gym or something. I kicked the floor and that muscle, that was it, men. I was trying. They injected me in that spot while I was in Scotland.

“I had to sign, I was already there, man. Despite the injection, the pain wouldn’t leave. Whether climbing the stairs or riding a bike, I felt it. I tried that week, I couldn’t. That injury just never left. In all my games, I couldn’t run well.

“Everyone including the agent was disappointed. It wasn’t my fault. That pushed me into serious, heavy depression. I still get messages in my inbox saying, ‘I didn’t believe you would leave football after everything you did’.”

Describing the period as a “defining moment” in his life, Boma said he lived seven months depressed in the United States.

“That injury was a career-ending injury. I packed my bag, left Scotland, and went back to Belgium to pack my other bag. I was back in the United States. 2017, March 8. That was the end of my career in football,” he added.

“My depression was bad. I would just wake up and sit on the floor. I’m not moving. Seven months. I didn’t want to do anything. My friend told me, ‘Bro, you can’t be living like this. There are people in Nigeria depending on you.'”

Boma was removed from this year’s BBNaija on September 5 during one of the reality TV show’s evictions, themed ‘King Size’.