Celebrity MND football match coming to Worcester
BBCA celebrity football match has been organised in support of a former player battling Motor Neurone Disease (MND) who is seeking to raise awareness of the condition.
Stacy Whittle, 38, a former midfielder for West Bromwich Albion, was diagnosed in July 2025.
She said her young sons had been "amazing" since her diagnosis, adding: "I couldn't get through it without them."
The event, organised by Sellebrity Soccer, will be held at Sixways Stadium in Worcestershire on 27 June, with similar games previously raising £1.7m. All the money raised at the June event will go to MND charities.
Whittle, from Worcestershire, said symptoms started with "a bit of neck pain" before she could no longer "lift her arms above her head".
"That just got gradually worse and then towards Christmas time I started to notice my breathing was laboured," the Worcester mum recalled.
She said she and her family were now "just trying to get through every day".
"They shouldn't be having to go through this, no family should," Whittle told BBC Hereford & Worcester.
"Every time I think I won't be with them for important events in their life it just makes me feel so emotional."
Discussing the upcoming match, she said: "It's about raising awareness, it's having the conversation. People don't realise the devastation of this disease."
Sellebrity Soccer has not yet revealed which stars would be lacing up their boots but the organisation's founder Kevin Cooper said: "Listening to Stacy's story, it's heartbreaking.
"We're honoured... to be bringing Sellebrity Soccer with two celebrity teams to come and play."
The Matt Gallagher Foundation has also helped organise the event with Gallagher's daughter Hollie-Mae Gallagher who said it was important to "particularly focus on [public] awareness [of MND]".
Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.