When Liverpool captain Sophie Bradley-Auckland looks back on the injury that saw her miss 19 months of football, including an FA Cup final and a Women’s World Cup, there is one positive.
While battling the fear that she might never play again, the defender took on an even bigger role in the care home owned by her family – a role that has taken on a whole new meaning during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It ended up with me losing my England contract and club contract so that’s when I made the decision to go into the care home to learn the manager’s role and work alongside my dad,” she tells Goal, reflecting on her time out of action between July 2014 and February 2016.
“Before that, I was always a carer, even when I was playing football, playing in the [2012] Olympics, I always went into the care home as well because I knew that would be something that I would go to work in after football.
“So it was always something that was in the back of my mind, but I guess when I had these injuries and the surgeon thought that I would never play football again, it became to me, ‘Now I’m coming to learn the role with my dad to work alongside him’.”
Fortunately, Bradley-Auckland would return to play the sport she loves, and she has juggled that with her role in the care home ever since.
Today, with football suspended and the world battling the coronavirus pandemic, it means the defender is on the frontline on a full-time basis.
She knows first-hand how important the work is, but also how rewarding it is, and is now supporting a campaign called ‘Care for Others. Make a Difference.’
The campaign, launched by the Department of Health and Social Care using the #ThankYouCareWorkers hashtag, aims to inspire people to consider a paid career in adult social care work – be it permanently or on a temporary basis.
“You’re protecting people away from harm of others and it’s a massive reward, making someone smile every day. For me, that makes the job,” she says.
“Sometimes it’s as little as painting their nails that means the world to them and puts that smile on their face.
“It’s also making them able to live their life to the full. A little bit of help and support in certain ways means that they’ll be able to do that and be happy.
“There are goals and things in life that they still have. A lot of them potentially have a goal to be able to walk again and that’s something that we help them with.
“It’s the most rewarding job that I’ve ever been a part of.”
It wasn’t just during her injury lay-off that Bradley-Auckland found this passion.
The care home she runs was first managed by her grandmother and grandfather, the latter of whom sadly passed away just a few weeks ago.
As a young girl, Bradley-Auckland was in and out of the home every day, adding joy to the residents’ days from a young age.
Her mother and father would buy the care home next door and the two would soon be joined together into one that the whole family would help to run.
It’s no surprise then that the campaign is something everyone at home is proud to see her involved in – especially her grandma, who “it means the absolute world to”.
Bradley-Auckland is already working on passing the career down to another generation of the family, too.
As well as juggling football and work, the 30-year-old is also a mother to two-year-old Macie, who is already following in her mum’s footsteps by putting smiles on the faces of residents.
“She just adds to the mayhem!” Bradley-Auckland laughs.
“I went back into the care home 10 days after I had Macie, so she’s got so many uncles, aunts, grandmas and grandads there.
“With everything that’s been going on, she’s not been going into the care home, so they’re all really missing her.
“I’m just taking photos and videos in so that they can still see her and watch her grow because they’ve seen her every day since she was 10 days old!”
And while her daughter might not fully grasp what is going on right now, she’ll grow to understand the role that her mother played on the frontline during such a difficult time.
“You know when you have to go to school dressed up as different heroes? I always think, I wonder if Macie will go as me? But I wonder which job she’d choose to dress up as,” Bradley-Auckland adds.
“She absolutely loves to come watch me play football, and she loves being at the care home.
“It’s amazing for her to be a part of it. She gets to mix with so many different people, every single day, and she’s getting to travel the world with my football as well as making the residents happy and smile.
“I don’t think she realises how much of an impact she has on their day-to-day life.”
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