Sterling and Trippier helped surprise TV presenter's parents

TV presenter reveals how England stars Raheem Sterling and Kieran Trippier helped surprise her parents – who are both in a care home with dementia – when they didn’t believe she was in Qatar covering the World Cup

  • TV presenter Carrie Brown shared a personal anecdote from the World Cup
  • Both her parents are suffering with dementia and are currently in a care home
  • She explained how England stars helped her convince them she was in Qatar
  • Raheem Sterling and Kieran Trippier got involved to surprise Brown’s parents 

England stars Raheem Sterling and Kieran Trippier have been hailed for their ‘lovely’ gesture after they helped a TV reporter convince her parents, both suffering with dementia, that she was in Qatar covering the World Cup. 

Following England’s quarter-final defeat to France at the weekend, beIN Sports presenter Carrie Brown shared an anecdote where Sterling and Trippier helped surprise her parents during a Zoom call. 

Both of Brown’s parents are in a care home, suffering with dementia, and as a result she only has one hour a day where she can catch them in a good moment to call them.


Raheem Sterling (left) and Kieran Trippier (right) got on a Zoom call with a reporter’s parents

They were helping Carrie Brown (pictured) convince her parents, who suffer with dementia, that she was really in Qatar covering the England team at the World Cup

Following England’s 6-2 win over Iran at the World Cup in Qatar, Brown took the daily Zoom call in the mixed zone – where players speak to reporters – and explained how a nearby Sterling and Trippier helped convince her parents she was in Qatar, with both doubting she was really there. 

In a clip that has now been viewed more than 700,000 times, Brown explained: ‘I’ve got a sweet personal moment that will really stick with me. 

‘I think people ask me about the special relationship that this [England] team have and how they’re a real family. My parents have dementia and there’s only one hour of the day that I can ever get them on a Zoom call because the care home can only have the time to get that to them when they’re really quite with it.

‘For the first seven days of rushing around I hadn’t managed it. I made a mental note that after the Iran game that might be quite a good time after the flash zone was done, and I saw one of the coaching staff, John McDermott, doing the same thing with his family and everything had been done and all the players had gone.

BBC presenter Gary Lineker was full of praise for the ‘lovely’ anecdote shared by Brown

‘But my mum, at the moment with dementia, doesn’t believe I’m in Qatar, thinks I’m making it up and that I should go and visit her. So the nurses said, “Carrie, you’re gonna have to try and convince her. Can you show her anything to do with Qatar?” So I showed her the pitch and the England dugout, and she still wasn’t convinced!

‘So I took her into the flash area where we interview [the players] and I showed her the sign for Qatar, and I just looked over my shoulder and saw some of the players were down in the tunnel. It was really dark and I was like, “You can probably see there’s some players”.

Catching wind of the nearby conversation, Chelsea star Sterling soon came over.  

‘Raheem Sterling came to look in my screen to see who it was and waved, and when he realised it was my mum and dad in a care home, he got Kieran Trippier over and they waved and they engaged,’ Brown added. 

‘My dad didn’t have words and my mum didn’t know what to think!

Sterling (second from left) and Trippier (far left) waved and engaged with her ill parents

‘But you know who it meant the world to? The nurses and the doctors that have got so many people through Covid, they’ll never forget the day that Raheem and Kieran spent some time with their care home, and that will stay with me longer than any goal from this tournament.’

The England pair were hailed for their selflessness in speaking to Brown’s parents, with BBC presenter Gary Lineker describing their actions as ‘lovely’.   

Sportsmail has been a driving force in raising awareness of dementia’s links to football. 

In addition, England boss Gareth Southgate offered his support in January last year to a study by The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to research potential links between football and dementia.




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