SKY SPORTS presenter Emma Saunders has returned to work after a harrowing health battle.
The popular presenter has endured a year from hell after fighting thyroid cancer before being sent into a coma with the viral brain infection encephalitis.
GettyEmma Saunders has returned to work with Sky Sports after a harrowing health battle[/caption]
Shutterstock EditorialShe is hoping to become a regular face on the broadcaster again this season[/caption]
GettyHer partner, Will Still, opened up on her harrowing health battle in an interview with SunSport[/caption]
PASaunders and Still went public with their relationship last year[/caption]
But thanks to excellent healthcare and the support of her loved ones, including Southampton manager Will Still, she is now on the mend.
The 32-year-old returned to broadcasting duties with Sky last Saturday.
And she is hoping to once again become a regular face on our screens again during the upcoming season.
Speaking exclusively to SunSport, former Lens manager Still said: “She’s getting a lot better. There’s still the odd thing here and there that isn’t quite right.
“But she has gone back into work for the first time in a very long while so that’s good.
“And just the fact I can go home to her after my training and games means she feels better about everything — and now has more control. She’s getting there.”
Still, 32, and Saunders had gone public with their relationship in the summer of 2024, after the pair got chatting on social media and met at various events before their romance blossomed.
He became a regular on the Eurostar to pay visits his to girlfriend in St Albans in England while he continued to manage in France – giving brothers Ed and Nico the reins while he was away.
But he admitted to feeling “emotionally drained” during the difficult health battle.
He said: “I’m not going to pretend it wasn’t tough but was lucky my brothers Ed and Nico were also working at Lens.
“They knew exactly what was going on. Ed had been a head coach so could just do it.
“And when Emma got the cancer news in September, he was like, ‘Will, just go away, you shouldn’t be here.’
“But I kept coming to the UK two days a week. If there was a day off on a Monday I’d stay Tuesday and come back Wednesday to prepare for the game. But I won’t miss the Eurostar — as good as that service is!”
Saunders’ final game of last season had been a trip to Anfield in February, but she thanked all the people who had reached out to her in a heartfelt Instagram post in May.
Saunders wrote: “Wasn’t to know at the time but a trip to Anfield in Feb was my last game this season; gutted to have had this campaign cut so short but at least we signed off on a high at the home of the Champions.
“Thank you to everyone who’s reached out – the kind words and encouragement have gone such a long way in recovery. Very grateful to say things are moving in the right direction and I’m feeling much more ‘me’. Looking forward to a fresh start in August.”
Still had initially opted not to go public about his partner’s health problems — but soon realised it was taking too much of a toll.
He said: “It was too difficult not saying anything. At the start I was like ‘I don’t want to say anything. I’ll tell it to the players, but I don’t want people talking about it.’
“But that’s not the right thing to do. As soon as you open up, people go, ‘I’ll give you a bit of time and space to be just a human being.’ And you then realise there are much more important things than football.
“Football’s great, pays the bills and it’s what I love doing. But those first weeks, when Emma was diagnosed with cancer and then the brain infection in March, made it not that important.
“It was draining because I also needed to be at Lens as that was my job and people were paying me a lot of money to do it.
“So I was torn between ‘I know, I’ve got to do this but I know you’re there.’
“I tried my best and honestly finishing eighth last season having sold all the players that we did sell was one of my proudest achievements — and doing it with my brothers was pretty special.
“But as draining as that period was, I grew as a person too, which was the most interesting.”
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