A FOOTBALL fanatic has raised £1,000 by running a lap of Hampden for the charities that picked her up when she was at her lowest.

Kimberley Macfarlane, 24, a former Dunfermline Athletic ladies' captain, saw her life turned upside down following surgery after a bang on the nose when she went to head the ball playing for the Pars' ladies team.

During her hospital stay she developed Fowlers Syndrome, a condition that affects one in one million women. Following severe pain and the prospect of not being able to play football, she developed mental health issues.

Then she appeared in court for causing traffic delays twice in Dunfermline after she threatened to jump off a motorway bridge.

The incident sparked outrage when the sheriff warned that she could be sent to prison if there was any further offending so that the public were not "inconvenienced".

Michelle Evans, from the Professional Footballers' Association in Scotland (PFA) was heartbroken by Kimberley's story. She reached out to the football fan and the association has been giving her support for her mental health difficulties as well as physio from the Hampden Sport Clinic to help her with a back injury, caused by a previous attempt on her life.

Kimberley is the first person who is not a professional footballer that the PFA have helped.

In a step towards her recovery, professionals set up a challenge for Kimberley to run around the pitch at Hampden, the home of Scottish Football.

She achieved that on December 4 and the £1,000 she raised will be split evenly between the PFA's 'Support within Sport' programme and Fife mental health charity Express, who have also held Kim's hand through her difficulties.

Kim told the Press: "I didn't think I'd turn up on the day, I was so nervous.

"All night I was up thinking the worst. My physio ran around with me encouraging me all the way.

"On the last bit I didn't think I'd make it, so it felt fantastic when I did the lap.

"It's such a small thing for other people but at one point I thought I'd struggle to walk again so for me it was great.

"Not many people get to run around Hampden, it was just a dream for me!

"When I saw my name up on the screen it was amazing being such huge football fan."

Kimberley was also surprised by the PFA with a treat to go and watch a training session and have lunch with the Dunfermline Athletic players soon. Goalkeeper Sean Murdoch also congratulated Kim on her achievement on Twitter.

Michelle added: "Kimberley was brilliant on the day because she was so nervous.

"Hopefully this is the first step in her recovery and she will go on to do better things.

"When I saw the article, it made me so angry that she was in court when all she needed was help.

"It touched my heart.

"We give support to players and when I read that she was a footballer it was heartbreaking to see what had happened to her.

"She didn't fit the professional category but she's part of the football family.

"She was heartbroken that she couldn't play football any more and that is something that affects a lot of players when their career comes to an end."

John Jones from Express Group Fife, said: "We are thankful and appreciative that Kim thought of us. We will be asking her where she thinks the money should be used."

You can still donate to Kimberley's sponsored run via https://www.gofundme.com/sponsored-run-around-hampden-football-pitch