First symptom ex-footballer had before MND diagnosis as Lioness wife speaks out on agony

The husband of England Lioness Steph Houghton, Stephen Darby, explained the first symptom he had before being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND).

Houghton, who won 121 caps playing for England and captained the national side, recently opened up about the pain of watching her husband Darby, a former Bradford City player and product of Liverpool's academy, suffer from MND. He was diagnosed with the progressive disease, which damages the nerves in the brain and the spinal cord, thus weakening the muscles and other functions of the body, in 2018 at the age of 29.

At the time of the diagnosis, few people were aware of what the couple were going through. But they have since spoken out about their experience and how they are coping. Crucially, Darby also revealed what his first symptoms were at the time.

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In an article that was published on his charitable website, 'The Darby Rimmer MND Foundation', he explained the context around his diagnosis. He wrote: "My first sign of symptoms was a weakness in my hand and twitching in my arm.

"For 12 months I was being treated for something different at one point and things were looking quite promising. However, after 18 months of testing I was finally given the devastating news that I had MND. Testing consisted of MRI scans, EMG tests and nerve conduction study tests. Testing also consisted of having IV infusions both lasting 5 days each time and a lumbar puncture.

"Over the course of the last two-and-a-half-years, symptoms have been progressing slowly. I have weakness in both hands and twitching in my arms, legs, chest and tongue. Starting the foundation was a way of turning something so devastating into something positive. To have a positive impact on MND and to help those individuals and families living through it to support them."

Houghton recently opened up about the experience of being the wife of a MND sufferer in her new book 'Leading from the Back'. She said: "Things have progressed a lot in the last few years. 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.

"But 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.”

Leading From The Back: My Journey To The Top Of Women’s Football by Steph Houghton, £25 (Sphere) is out now