Liverpool woman who brought Klopp to tears can’t believe she’s ‘gone viral with the boss’

The woman whose letter of thanks brought Jurgen Klopp to tears says she’s been overwhelmed by his response.

Lifelong LFC fan Molly Gardner wrote to Klopp to tell him how he’d given her the will and strength to fight back from a serious illness which had left her clinging to life.

And she says: “I’m overwhelmed by it all, I’m still in shock he’s read my letter – never mind be touched by it.

“It really has just rounded off the perfect goodbye to him, but also given me such a lift in my road to recovery.

“I can’t believe I’ve gone viral with the boss!”

Molly laughs: “I’ll go to my grave saying I’m the woman who made Klopp cry.”

In footage released by Liverpool FC on their YouTube and social media channels this week, Klopp is seen reading fans’ letters during his final days at Anfield. 

But it’s the one from Molly which leaves the former manager wiping tears from his eyes and taking in deep breaths to go on.

Molly, 52, from Edge Hill, put pen to paper to thank him for giving her strength as she lay fighting for her life in a hospital bed.

She told him how, in December 2022, her life was turned upside down when she became desperately ill with pancreatitis.

Molly wrote: “I had to wear an oxygen hood for 16 hours a day to breathe, my lungs were failing. I was fed through a tube. I had wires in every direction keeping me alive, procedures, operations and, more recently, a bleed in my spleen.” 

Molly was in and out of hospital until October ’23, and lost five stones in weight. As a result of her illness, she has developed diabetes.

“I thought I would never see my home or family again, never mind be able to go the match. Six months on, I am now proud to say I am home and my rehab has begun, and I am able to get to the home games, which is a huge step for me.”

The revenue protection officer for London Northwestern Railway, went on: “This isn’t a sob story, but an important message to say that football is one small part of life, it doesn’t really mean all that much when your life is on the line, but part of your legacy that you will leave is strangely much more than football. 

“The meaning of believing, believe if you fight hard enough, you can do it, you can bounce back from the hardest times, from the impossible. That’s what you have given to me Jurgen, and thousands of others. A lasting effect that is so much to a city that you will probably never comprehend.

“…. At the end of the storm is a golden sky.”

As he looks at photos she has sent, a visibly emotional Klopp says: “I read it, and I believe it…but when people say it… How can that be me?

“I mean, if Molly says it, that I had an impact on her life, yeah, that’s good.  Very good.”

Molly, who with friends raised £10,000 for the charity Guts UK to help people with pancreatitis with a 50-mile bike ride, says: “It was the scariest time of my life, but now I’m doing better.

“I am trying to put the weight back on and gain strength, and I’m getting there. This has made me fight even more.

“To be honest, I was devastated he was going and this just about tipped me over the edge,” she smiles.

“I don’t have children and I live and breathe Liverpool FC. I have been going to the match since I was 10 – I’d miss family weddings for a game – so I cried like a baby when Jurgen read my letter. And the messages I have received from friends and family since have been amazing.

“Jurgen Klopp has been a big part of my life, he’s given me the best days of my life – and he gave me the reason to live.

“I made it back to Anfield at the start of this season and, although I missed a few games, it was a sign of my getting back to normal.

“I still have days when I find it hard to get out of bed, physically and emotionally, but this week I have been skipping out.

“One day, when I’m 100% back to fitness, I’ll send Jurgen a video of my own and say ‘you got me here’.”

You can watch Klopp reading Molly’s letter here.

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