ITV World Cup co-commentator Lucy Ward has thanked partner and former Leeds boss Neil Redfearn for saving her mum.
Ward, 52, has been on duty at the tournament in Mexico, Canada, and USA for the broadcaster.
She is often heard on TNT Sports coverage and was not around to help her mum last week.
It is not clear exactly what happened to her mum, but writing on social media, Ward said: “This one [Redfearn] saved my Mum’s life on Friday whilst I was away at the World Cup.
“What a man, forever grateful for you”.
Ward posted it late on Tuesday night, just hours before working on Mexico vs Ecuador in the last-32 for ITV.
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Partner Redders, as fans call him, has been in pro football for more than 40 years, playing hundreds of games across the English leagues.
He represented Bolton, Lincoln, Doncaster, Crystal Palace, Watford, Oldham, Barnsley, Charlton, Bradford, Wigan, Halifax, Boston, and Rochdale as well as other lower division sides.
And in management he was three-times a caretaker at Elland Road as well as briefly in position on a permanent basis.
Redfearn, 61, also stepped into the women’s game at Liverpool and Sheffield United.
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Ward is still travelling around for the World Cup and was on with commentator Joe Speight for Mexico against Ecuador at the Azteca Stadium.
She added on Instagram: “Mum is fine and back home from the hospital. All good”.
The former Leeds and Doncaster forward is an established name in UK football punditry and has also worked for Sky, BBC, Amazon Prime, and others on women’s football, the Premier League, Champions League, and more.
She was previously head of welfare and education at Leeds, helping youngsters including James Milner, Aaron Lennon, Fabian Delph, and Kalvin Phillips in the academy.
In 2023 she claimed that she lost that role because Redfearn was sacked as boss and they were together.
Ward won a sex discrimination case against then owner Massimo Cellino and got £290,000 in compensation.
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