Sky Sports presenter reveals she has a brain infection following cancer battle as she provides health update from hospital bed – before sending heartwarming message to English manager boyfriend

A Sky Sports presenter has revealed she has a brain infection after battling cancer.

Emma Saunders, who works as a presenter and match day reporter for Sky, was treated for thyroid cancer at the start of the current season and is now recovering from a brain infection called encephalitis.

She posted a picture to her Instagram account from her hospital bed on Friday, explaining her situation to her 71,500 followers and thanking her English manager boyfriend in a heartwarming post.

Saunders began dating coach Will Still, 32, who is currently in charge of Lens in France, last year and the duo went public with their relationship during Euro 2024.

Holding a stuffed giraffe teddy, she went onto open up on her recent condition and fans flooded the comments section with messages of support.

The likes of commentator Pien Meulensteen and presenter Hayley McQueen were among those to send messages of support, with the post receiving thousands of likes within a matter of hours of being shared.

The caption 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 wont 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 & being there for me.’

In her career, Saunders 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 major sporting events including England internationals, the World Cup, Six Nations Rugby matches, and the first-ever MLB game in the UK.

Starting off her broadcasting work on the student radio at the University of Southampton, she soon joined the BBC’s reporting scheme with a placement in London before embarking on a post-graduate scheme and joining Watford on the club’s in-house channels.

She also became the first-ever female stadium announcer at a Premier League club in the process, and began working at both Sky and BBC as her career progressed.

Still, meanwhile, went viral a matter of years ago when it emerged he was the youngest manager in the top five leagues as the boss of Reims in France at the age of 30.

31 at the time, Still posted two photos of himself and Saunders during Euro 2024 alongside two emojis – one of a football and the other depicting a heart. Saunders was tagged in the post.

He was born in Belgium but both of his parents are English.

Meulensteen, meanwhile, commented on the post: ‘Oh Emma, wishing you a speedy recovery and sending lots of love.’

McQueen added: ‘Oh my gosh Emma. So shocked to read this but sending much love to you & hoping you’re back on our screen soon!!! Lots of love x’

Becky Ives, who works for TNT Sports, wrote: ‘Oh my goodness! Im so sorry to read this! Sending you so much love & wishing you a speedy recovery!’

Soccer Saturday’s Simon Thomas, meanwhile, posted: ‘So sorry to hear you’ve gone through this Emma. You’re missed! Look after yourself and hope you’re feeling much better soon x’

Emma Paton, Clinton Morrison and Ben Foster were also among those to comment on the post.