Alicia Scholes Shows Scars in Bikini After Hospital Stay

Alicia Scholes, the daughter of former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes, has displayed her abdominal scars in a bikini while on holiday in Portugal.

The 25-year-old professional netball player posted pictures on Instagram on Tuesday following an undisclosed hospitalisation at Tameside General Hospital earlier this month.

Despite keeping quiet about the reason for her illness, Alicia showcased three scars around her abdomen while posing in a string two-piece bikini during her getaway.

Making light of her apparent medical procedure, Alicia captioned the sun-soaked images for her followers: "Took my 3 brand new shiny scars away."

Alicia is the daughter of 51-year-old former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes and his ex-wife Claire Froggatt. Tameside General Hospital, where Alicia was treated, is an NHS hospital located in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.

The athlete also posed in a pink and white heart-printed underwear set, in which plasters covering her surgical scars remained visible.

In additional photographs shared from her trip, Alicia posed in another cut-out bikini while kneeling in the sunshine, as well as capturing a mirror selfie in her sleepwear.

Alicia is an accomplished athlete who plays netball professionally for London Pulse in the Netball Superleague and represents England. She is currently dating Love Island Series 11 star Ayo Odukoya and has built a social media following of more than 100,000 on Instagram.

Podcast Appearance and Family Tribute

Her holiday post comes after she paid a heartfelt tribute to her father in November following his emotional appearance on the sports podcast Stick to Football.

During the podcast, the former England midfielder spoke candidly about the challenges of raising his non-verbal autistic son, Aiden, who is Alicia's younger brother. Aiden was diagnosed with severe autism at age two-and-a-half.

Scholes shared how difficult it was getting to grips with raising a neuro-diverse child while competing at the top level of professional football. He also admitted his great fear of what will happen to his son when he is no longer around to care for him.

The response to the interview, particularly from parents in similar situations, blew Scholes away, prompting Alicia to share her own public tribute on Instagram.

"God knows how hard that episode must’ve been!!!!! We love you so much," Alicia wrote to her father.

"I've never known anyone hate talking about themself more than you and can only imagine how hard it was speaking about Aidie and the reality of a very, very hard situation. My whole life your priority has always been being my dad and growing up realising how hard you had to work everyday alongside that is something I can't even comprehend."

She added: "To achieve all you did takes so much sacrifice and somehow I still had you to take me to school every morning and there at the end of each day, so present in every aspect of my life!"

Navigating Public Attention and Pressure

Alicia also opened up about the challenges of growing up with a famous surname and the public profile associated with her father's achievements.

"I never knew that having your name would be the heaviest weight I'd have to carry but over time I'm learning and hoping the pressure has made me stronger, it's people I've never met writing all over Twitter about how much they hate me or how rude I am or how bad my attitude is, people who have never had a conversation with me assuming I'm going to be a certain way so dislike me for reasons they've made up in their own head," she shared.

She recounted how the online criticism affected her family during matches: "My mum being at games overhearing fans tell each other I'm only in teams because of my dad, nothing to do with the work or dedication I've put in."

"I've had everything I do have more attention than it should, being judged 10x harder and criticised 10x more, always having to play above or beyond expectations to be acknowledged or praised because my bar is naturally so much higher, every success or achievement getting compared to a standard impossible to meet," she wrote.

"Growing up with eyes on you that you didn't ask for has an impact and it's not normal to live in a world where everyone's view on you is based on things nothing to do with who you are or what you've done."

Praising her father's character and influence on her career, Alicia concluded: "Nobody teaches you to grow up with all these eyes and it took me so long to realise that but again I look at you, and not only are you everything I want to be as an athlete but your character and how you carry yourself is admirable."