GEORGIA STANWAY emotionally paid tribute to sufferers of Motor Neurone Disease as she remembered her close friend who passed away from the illness last year.
During lockdown, the cheeky Manchester City striker, 21, proved she could be a star both on and off the pitch as she rallied support for the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation.
Georgia Stanway and her family have helped raise Ā£15,000 over lockdown to help the find a cure for Motor Neurone Disease [/caption]
The charity was set up by City skipper Steph Houghtonās husband ā Stephen Darby and his friend Chris Rimmer.
The pair both have the debilitating disease, which mercilessly attacks the muscles and has no cure.
There is no cure and we have to find one because a lot of people are suffering
Georgia Stanway
Former Liverpool full-back Darby was told of his shattering diagnosis only months after his wedding to Steph in 2018 – and has been given just years to live.
Stanwayās close pal Pete Fell, from her hometown of Barrow-in-Furness, tragically passed away in August last year, just five months after his diagnosis. Ā
The City striker said: āIām proudly a patron of the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation on behalf of Steph and Stephen.
āMy family grew up with a very, very close friend called Felly and unfortunately he died a year ago. We raised a lot of money for him and wanted to do our bit to help find a cure.
āWhen Stephen created his foundation we were able to put the money that weād raised for the Felly into finding a cure for MND.
Steph Houghton’s husband Stephen Darby (left) and his close friend Chris Rimmer (right) set up the Darby Rimmer MND Foundation [/caption]
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āIn lockdown, me, my dad and my step mum wanted to do a 100k in May and we had a lot of interest from people in Barrow.
āWe had about 400 people that all donated a tenner and walked or ran the 100k with us.
āEach month my dad has loved creating a new plan and new exercises for the town to do to raise money.
āItās been good because itās allowed people in the town to focus on something and enjoy something.
āWe also did āSteps for Stephenā which was a walk of the distance of the football clubs that Stephen has played for.
āSteph is a close friend of ours and Stephen is too. Itās a horrible disease, we can only do our little bit to support them and this is us doing our bit.ā
Thanks to Stanway and her family, the people of Barrow raised a staggering Ā£15,000 for the charity during lockdown.
The England forward is proud to have raised awareness in a bid to help others battle MND.
She added: āPeople arenāt actually aware of the symptoms, how you can develop it, how it gets worse, how it makes you feel.
āThat was the key thing for us to get across. That itās uncontrollable and there is no cure and we have to find one because a lot of people are suffering.
āWhether we give Ā£100 or Ā£10, every little helps.
āI think itās unbelievable how much we have created and obviously, weāre going to go for as much as we can.
āItās a massive credit to my dad and my step mum who have thought of the idea and pushed it.ā
Today, the striker turns her attention to the Womenās Super League and Cityās first match against newly promoted Aston Villa.
The Manchester outfit narrowly missed out on the title last season after the top-flight was axed and the table was determined by points-per-game, with Chelsea crowned champions.
But Stanway insists Gareth Taylorās side are back with a vengeance after the March Covid-19 shutdown.
She continued: āEveryone is just so excited to get going. I feel like this has been the longest pre-season ever.
āItās the longest time Iāve ever spent with my family and Iāve had enough of them now and Iām ready to get going.
āIām used to just seeing my family on a Sunday at the game, so Iād love that to happen again.
āBut weāre ready to get back out there and showcase the work weāve been putting in during lockdown.ā
USA World Cup winners Sam Mewis and Rose Lavelle are set to make their WSL debuts for Gareth Taylorās side today, while Lauren Hemp is out with a hamstring injury.
Click here to donate to the Darby Rimmer Foundation.
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By: Isabelle Barker
Title: Man City ace Georgia Stanway pays tribute to sufferers of Motor Neurone Disease ahead of Aston Villa clash
Sourced From: www.thesun.co.uk/sport/12570480/man-city-stanway-motor-neurone-aston-villa/
Published Date: Fri, 04 Sep 2020 21:00:00 +0000