Will Still reveals Sky Sports presenter partner was ‘in a coma’ and lifts lid on heartache of leaving her in hospital
WILL STILL has revealed his partner Emma Saunders was “in a coma” as he lifted the lid on her health battle.
The Lens football manager started dating the Sky Sports presenter in 2024 and went public with their relationship during the Euros.
Still, 32, has paid emotional tributes to Emma after she was treated for thyroid cancer at the start of the season.
The presenter has also recently had to overcome the brain infection encephalitis.
However, he did have to leave her in the hospital as he had to take charge of Lens’ Ligue 1 match against Marseille.
His side sealed an important win as Neil El Aynaoui scored the winner in the 94th minute.
Despite the win, Still told L’Equipe that he is still mostly thinking about his partner.
He said: “It’s tough.
“We realise that there are more important things in life than a football match or a shot that goes into the top corner.
“I was honest with the guys. My girlfriend was in a coma. We had to be with her, we had to take care of her.
“The group reacted admirably well. My girlfriend is stable, she’s fine.
“That’s the most important thing. When I came back last Saturday, I knew she was in the best possible place to get treatment.
“I asked her the question openly: ‘Do I go, do I not go?’ She said to me: ‘You have to go.’
“I thank the staff and my brothers who were there to do the work when I wasn’t there.
“I felt like I had to give something back, hence the frustration and disappointment last week.”
Emma recently thanked Still in a heartwarming post on Instagram as she shared a health update for her 71,5000 followers.
It read: “Hi folks.
“Unfortunately life took a bit of an unexpected turn a couple of weeks ago and I’m now off work while I recover from Encephalitis – an infection of the brain.
“I hope it won’t be long until I’m back to see out the end of 2024/25 – especially after missing part of the start of the season before this when I was treated for Thyroid cancer.
“So, as I spend time now recovering and rebuilding again – I just wanted to thank my family & friends for their rock solid support, my colleagues at Sky for their patience allowing me the time to heal, and our wonderful NHS for their extraordinary kindness and care.
“And of course you Will Still just for being you and being there for me.”
The message accompanied a picture of Emma holding a toy giraffe while lying in her hospital bed.
Plenty of her fans flooded the comment section to send her their well wishes.
In her career, Emma has also worked for the likes of BBC Sport, fronting women’s football on the channel alongside her work at Sky.
Seen as a trailblazer for women’s broadcasting in sport and football, she’s also worked as a stadium presenter for the World Cup, Six Nations Rugby matches, and the first-ever MLB game in the UK.
Still made a name for himself as the youngest manager in Europe’s top five leagues.
He was just 30 when he took over at Reims – even before getting his Uefa Pro Licence, costing the club £22,000 per match.
Still guided the club to ninth in Ligue 1 last season before announcing his exit to take over at RC Lens in May 2024.
He was born in Belgium to English parents and began his managerial career aged 24.
The English gaffer admitted that his love of coaching was born through playing Football Manager.