official

When the game became official after the top of the fifth, and Ripken passed the Iron Man by playing in his 2,131st consecutive game, Hudler took the field and watched as Ripken took an iconic victory lap around the stadium, high-fiving fans, hugging teammates and delaying the game for 22 minutes, 15 seconds.

This would help attract more funds for a new school, a playground, a healthcare centre and other facilities, Ajay Singh Rathore, a local official, told the BBC.

In her 20s, she became a full-time union official and eventually, after battles over working conditions and zero-hour contracts, rose to the most senior elected role in Unison in north-west England.

It was at Unison she met Mark Rayner, a fellow union official whom she married in 2010 and divorced in 2023.

Three decades after he broke Gehrig’s record by playing in his 2,131st consecutive game against the Angels, a streak that began in 1982, Ripken insists there was no plan for how he would celebrate when the game became official.