Former Lioness Steph Houghton is best known for winning 121 caps for England, playing in three World Cups and being appointed England captain in 2014 . But few people are aware of the challenges of her life off the pitch, as a dedicated wife and carer for her husband, ex-Bradford City player Stephen Darby, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2018 at the age of 29. She calls Stephen her “soulmate”, and remembers their first date: “I just knew Stephen was the one.
I love remembering when we met, it brings back the best memories”. “Things have progressed a lot in the last few years,” she says of his MND symptoms. “ He has good days and bad days .
It’s obviously hard because I’m living it every single day. I hope it comes across that he’s my absolute world . We’ve remained positive.
Since retiring earlier this year, Steph is written a memoir, Leading From The Back. Writing the book was “very, very therapeutic”, she tells the Express.co.
uk . “To look back on where I’ve come from and where I’ve got to..
. I achieved something special.” But Stephen was also the subject of the hardest chapter Steph had to write.
“It took us a bit longer to write that chapter, for sure. And it took us about three hours to do the audiobook [chapter about Stephen]. My voice was going.
It’s very raw emotions but we made a conscious decision that we wanted to be honest." They don’t look too far into the future. “If we start thinking that we might only h.
