A woman who was visited in hospital by Gary Neville 15 years ago has shared the inspirational story of how she now works alongside the football legend.
Jenny Byrne, 21, from Stockport, was rushed into hospital at the age of six and was later diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis - an inflammatory bowel disease.
While at Booth Hall Children's Hospital in Blackley, Jenny was one of the children on the ward to be surprised by a visit from a number of football stars - including former United captain Gary.
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“I had no idea Gary would be visiting - despite the fact him and the team did it most years at Christmas,” Jenny tells the M.E.N.
“There were always visitors in and out of the ward, particularly with it being close to Christmas but when Gary walked through the door, my dad said he was genuinely just confused – he was actually wondering who he was there to visit.
“In followed Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher and Alan Smith behind Gary and it was at that point, as we are a family of Manchester United fans, that my parents clocked on as to what was happening.
“I remember my parent’s reactions of disbelief -I think it was the first time in a while I’d seen them genuinely smile too.
“It was then that I realised something special was happening and this was no ordinary visit!”
Football captain at the time, Gary brought his fellow players over to Jenny and took pictures with her, alongside giving her gifts of chocolates, teddies and books.
Jenny recalled: “Gary made sure to properly sit down with us and talk to us all - asking about my condition and not just how I was, but how my parents were coping too.
“They’ve always remembered how kind he was that day.”
15 years ago, Jenny says her situation was vastly different to how it is today.
“It’s a long-term chronic condition with no cure at the moment,” Jenny says.
“While you can have periods of good health, the disease can flare up with active symptoms.
“Being so young back then, I always say that I won’t ever really know any different.
“Back then and even now, I don’t know what it’s like to not be poorly or not have to go to hospital, so it feels very ‘normal’ to me to be able to live like this.
“It was a much scarier time for my parents, as there was little understanding or awareness of Ulcerative Colitis back then in 2006, so it was fear of the unknown really and how the rest of my life would pan out.
“It was hard at that age to be missing so much school and not being able to see friends and go to birthday parties during that time, and just enjoy being a kid really but I never really let it get me down - there’s no point in that mentality!”
Jenny says her condition is now at a point where she ‘only’ requires hospital treatment every six weeks to have immunotherapy through an infusion drip which wipes her immune system.
“Up until I left childcare at the hospital at 18, I was on 15 different tablets a day and had been since the age of six,” she explains.
“Other treatments include injections, enemas and surgery but I’m very fortunate to have never reached the point of surgery and having a colostomy bag.”
After leaving college, Jenny started a career in marketing after completing an apprenticeship with The Juice Academy.
Earlier this year, she discovered a marketing role at UA92 - a higher education institution in Trafford founded in 2017 by Lancaster University and the Class of ‘92.
“I stumbled across the role at UA92 on LinkedIn and it just felt right,” Jenny recalls.
“I’d naturally always followed what Gary and the team did after meeting them as it was so special.
“I watched the Class of ‘92 documentaries and was amazed by their ethos, their determination and their approach to life and working and making change.
“I’ve always been a very motivated, hard-working person so I remember telling myself that I was going to work for the Class of ‘92 one day after watching that, because I knew I championed the same ethos and drive.”
She said she initially kept her past encounter with Gary a secret but when she got the job in June this year - she knew it was right to reveal all.
“I applied for the role, with no mention of my earlier meeting with Gary until I knew I’d got the role,” Jenny explains.
“Working in marketing, I know all too well how interesting this story appears and I didn’t want to get the role based on that.
“I wanted it to be about me and my skills and what I could bring to the table.
“Once I got the job and shared my illness with my new team and the UA92 People team, I also shared the story, and they just couldn’t believe it.
“Gary was actually on campus on my interview and on one of my first days too as he is heavily involved in UA92 being co-founder and it’s not rare to find him on campus.
“We shared the story and we both just laughed at the pictures and spoke about how special it was.
“Gary spoke fondly of the visits he used to do at Booth Hall. I work alongside Gary regularly now on new campaigns and all things UA92.”
Speaking about her marketing role at UA92, Jenny says she is constantly in 'awe' of their way of learning.
"UA92 is incredible, their approach to learning is something I am in awe of and can first-hand see the difference it makes," she explains.
"Character and personal development is at the core of all the degrees so you don’t just walk away with a piece of paper but rather life skills too and that’s an incredible thing to be a part of.
"We are deliberately different and I’m proud to be part of it.
"UA92 are also incredibly understanding with my illness too which is great."
Having realised that this year marks 15 years since she first met Gary, Jenny decided to share her inspiration story on Twitter.
Within hours, her tweet had gone viral and was retweeted more than 3,000 times and received over 62,000 likes.
“The response has been mind-blowing,” Jenny says.
“I know it’s a nice story but I genuinely did not expect this - it’s surpassed any numbers I could possibly have thought of.
“On LinkedIn it has now surpassed 10 million views. I’ve worked in marketing for almost four years and never seen stats like this on a platform!
“There’s been some incredible reactions, mostly people coming together to say how it’s given them hope when they’re suffering with Ulcerative Colitis or have just been diagnosed and asking for advice.
“Some people are thanking me for sharing what is a lovely story during a bleak period of time and there’s been a few comments on Gary’s lack of ageing!
“My phone did have to go on silent for a day or two but ultimately spreading the awareness of Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease is what is important and I’m proud to be doing so with this story.”
You can find out more about Ulcerative Colitis via the Crohn's & Colitis UK website here.
