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BBC News
28-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
England Lioness Lucy Bronze's dreams coming true, says aunt
Lioness star Lucy Bronze's "dreams are coming true", her aunt has said, after England retained their European title at Euro Tough said she was exhausted and "quite emotional" after watching the Lionesses defeat Spain during Sunday's dramatic penalty shootout."Goodness knows how Lucy's feeling, because I feel like I've played it with them," she told BBC Radio 5 Live. "It was nail-biting. I watched every game with my mam. It was exhausting, but absolutely brilliant."It came after the Northumberland star revealed she had played in the tournament with a fractured tibia. Nan Gloria Stapleton, who watched the match at Ponteland Leisure Centre, said she was "exhausted"."That was a tense game and I knew it would be a tense game," Mrs Stapleton said."I'm pleased that it was an even game because they are both very good teams." Bronze, from Berwick-upon-Tweed, began her football journey as a child with Alnwick Town Junior Football Louise Jones said she still had a sore throat after cheering on the Lionesses on Sunday."It was wild. The amount of girls and boys that look up to her, especially the girls, it's just amazing," she said. 'Not a whisper got out' In the quarter-final against Sweden, Bronze was shown on camera self-strapping support around her right leg during a break in Sunday, she played 105 minutes in the tense encounter with Spain, before leaving the pitch in tears as she was forced it was not until the end that she admitted she had played with a fracture the whole mum Diane said the family and team's medical team knew about the injury all along."And not a whisper got out," she said. "[She] didn't want anybody else to know."Her aunt said Bronze would not "let the pain get in the way"."Lucy wouldn't damage her body but she'll play through pain if she thinks she's not gonna do anything worse to it," she added. Bronze - who plays full-back for Chelsea - has played more consecutive tournament football for England than any other 33 years, eight months and 30 days, she was England's oldest player at Euro 2025 and played 598 minutes throughout, with only Keira Walsh, Alex Greenwood and Hannah Hampton playing more for Sarina Wiegman's nan said she wanted to play football from a young age."She was only three when she was kicking a ball around and she's never wanted anything for herself, she's never wanted fancy dresses, she's never wanted fancy things," Mrs Stapleton said."She just wanted to play football all the time and it's been her dream and she's followed it through. But she puts a lot into it, mind, she works hard, she really works hard." Bronze's star potential was first noticed by Alnwick Town Juniors' coach Ray Smith."He turned around and told her, 'You'll be playing for England one day', and he was right," Ms Jones recalled."He mentored her through the whole thing and he really did look after her, and he'd seen it straight away."Ms Jones said Bronze was "a proper North East girl, a proper rock"."She can prove anybody wrong. Absolutely crazy she's done it, but she's amazing." She added the Lionesses' success had inspired more girls and women to take up football."When Lucy was with Alnwick Town Juniors, we only had boys teams. Now we have eight female teams," Ms Jones said."It shows they all look up to her" Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
The Independent
28-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Disabled student's ‘agonisingly slow' journey across England using only public buses
A disabled photography student has travelled more than 850 miles across England by public bus, spotlighting the everyday obstacles faced by disabled bus pass holders. Dan Bowhay, 22, a final-year student at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB), embarked on the 10-day trip from Land's End in Cornwall to Marshall Meadows in Berwick-upon-Tweed, near the Scottish border. The same journey would take just over nine hours by car. Beginning on January 26 and concluding on February 6, Bowhay paused his travels over the weekend of February 1 and 2 to avoid reduced service frequencies. He now plans to showcase a 10-hour documentary film to raise awareness about the "limited freedoms" experienced by disabled bus pass users. 'I am exploring what limited freedoms and independence this pass affords me,' Mr Bowhay told the PA news agency. During each leg of his journey, Mr Bowhay travelled up to 10 hours a day, including time in transit on a bus and waiting for a connection. His project, titled 'Between These Times', is a 'slow cinema' style film which emphasises long takes and observational shots. 'I've taken this genre and used it to kind of convey this journey I went on in this really slow format to show just how agonisingly slow it is to travel by bus, showing all these delays in that long, drawn out way,' said Mr Bowhay. Mr Bowhay's bus pass is granted under the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS), which provides free travel by bus in England to those who are disabled. The pass has its limitations as it is only valid on weekdays from 9.30am to 11pm, and is not available in Scotland or Wales, which causes issues for those who commute to work or live near borders, said Mr Bowhay. He originally wanted to travel from Land's End to John o' Groats, but was limited to finishing at the border as his bus pass does not work in Scotland. Aged four, Mr Bowhay became visually impaired when he developed cataracts in both eyes. Mr Bowhay's left eye was removed and replaced with a prosthetic when he was four and he has limited vision in his right eye after the lens was replaced to treat his cataracts. His condition means he struggles with his sight and depth perception, meaning he is unable to drive and is reliant on public transport for travel. Mr Bowhay was inspired to create the film by the difficulties he had accessing public transport independently, where he grew up in Bishops Waltham, Hampshire. 'I attend a lot of hospital appointments at Southampton, and getting there independently is pretty impossible,' he said. He said moving home after university does not feel 'viable' as the lack of public transport in the area limits his independence. Of the 26 buses Mr Bowhay took during the 10-day journey, he said only three had audio and one had visual announcements to indicate the location of each stop, making travel more challenging for those with visual or hearing impediments. 'I had to spend a fair amount of time sort of looking out the window and trying to work out, actually, where I am, where I need to get off,' he said. Problems Mr Bowhay faced during the trip included bus delays of up to 40 minutes a day, waiting times of up to a several hours for connections and difficulties with scanning his pass, meaning he often had to present his pass to a driver. Mr Bowhay said he wants more investment to go into bus services and for the 'public attitude' to be more understanding of the challenges faced by disabled people using public transport. The film will be shown at AUB's summer show from July 10-21 and Aberrations Collective's Show in Copeland Gallery, London, from July 31 to August 3.
