Sky Sports presenter Simon Thomas has written a touching blog post about how he and his son are coping on the first Mother’s Day since his wife died.
Gemma died in November, three days after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia.
In a heartbreaking post today, Thomas said his eight-year-old son, Ethan, had tearfully pleaded: ‘I want Mummy’.
But the 45-year-old had to communicate the tragic reality that ‘Mummy is no longer here’.
Gemma died in November, three days after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia. Pictured: Gemma kissing son Ethan, 8
In a heartbreaking post today, Thomas said his eight-year-old son, Ethan, had tearfully pleaded: ‘I want Mummy’. But the 45-year-old had to communicate the tragic reality that ‘Mummy is no longer here’
In the post, titled ‘Mother’s Day… without Mum’, Thomas said his son spoke recently of his future – passing exams, getting a job and more.
He added: ‘Then he said this one heart breaking line – “and Mummy’s not going to be here to see any of them.”
‘I could have adopted my Twitter ‘followers’ advice and just said well you’ve still got me, you should count your blessings. The truth is it broke my heart as I imagined all those big life moments for Ethan that his mum should be there to see, but won’t.
‘It’s difficult enough to try and get your head around, but the hardest part is that you can do absolutely nothing to change it.’
The former Blue Peter presenter recently told of how quickly Gemma’s health deteriorated, and how he did not get to say a final goodbye to her.
‘She had headaches for a few weeks,’ he told ITV’s This Morning.
Simon Thomas paid tribute to his wife as part of International Women’s Day, calling her a kind and wonderful mother
He revealed that he and Gemma went for a joint appointment, because he was seeking more medication for his depression, but that by the next Friday, ‘she was really quite bad’ and that she was in bed most of the time.
After another visit to the doctor, with ‘fluey’ symptoms, she spent the rest of the weekend in bed, and was admitted to hospital on the Monday.
Thomas said: ‘On the Monday night at the Royal Berkshire (Hospital)… I fainted. We knew it was a blood cancer of some sort, it’s a leukaemia of some sort… we thought we are probably OK, people get better from this.
‘It all cartwheeled quite quickly.’
His wife was given a 50/50 chance of survival and underwent chemotherapy, but during the night, Thomas said she ‘became more and more confused’.
‘I put her back into bed at about 4.30. That was the last time I spoke to her.’
He added: ‘I thought she was going to sleep but as I found out she was falling unconscious and I never had the chance to even say goodbye.’
Acute myeloid leukaemia is a type of blood cancer that affects the bone marrow.
In his Mother’s Day post, he wrote again of the tragic loss of his wife.
Fifteen weeks ago […] my boy Ethan lost his mum,’ he said.
‘I hope that on Mother’s Day in the years to come we will be remembering Gemma as the wonderful mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend that we’ve lost, but this year it’s still all too raw.
‘Whilst we will try and remember her for the love that she poured into our lives, we will still remember the way she was torn away from us in such a brutal and cruel manner.’
Mr Thomas, 45, lived happily in the Berkshire home he shared with his wife Gemma, 40, and their eight-year-old son Ethan until her untimely death in November last year
He also said: ‘This year, like all the others (nearly) I have sent the card and ordered the flowers and once again written to my mum how much I love her. I’ve had forty five years of being able to do this (OK I wasn’t sending flowers aged two!), but at the age of just eight, Ethan no longer has a mum to make feel special on this day, and to tell once again how much he loves her.’
‘And for many, like Ethan, this day will be tough. So tough. For some it will be the day they remember a mum no longer with them.That chair they once filled round the kitchen table now lies painfully empty.’
He added: ‘To mums reading this I hope today is a day when you feel loved and cherished.
‘For those mums for whom today is going to be hard I hope that now or in the years to come you will know love again, and for those for whom today will resonate with the pain of the absence of a mother now gone, I hope that it will be a day that even if it’s just for a moment, you’re able to follow Martin’s example and remember and savour the mum you lost.’
He previously paid tribute to his ‘kind, passionate and loving’ wife after International Women’s Day.
In a poignant post, shared the day after the annual celebration of women, Thomas tweeted a picture of Gemma kissing their son Ethan.
He wrote: ‘On #IWD2018 we miss this wonderful woman so much. Kind, patient, compassionate, loving and a wonderful mum.
‘A woman who stood in the breach for those around her who were less fortunate than her and needed help.
‘The hole she’s left in our lives is immeasurable.’
The presenter was forced to defend himself against bitter trolls after a tweeter told him to ‘count his blessings’ following the death of his wife from cancer.
Mr Thomas, who suffers from depression, has since documented he and his eight-year-old son Ethan’s struggle with their loss on social media. He has touched the hearts of the nation with his heart-felt posts.
But one Twitter poster has been unimpressed with his videos and tweets and told the presenter to consider the loss of families in war-torn countries like Syria.
The furious exchange started when Mr Thomas shared a video of a radio interview he conducted with BBC Radio 5 live, where he discussed his son’s grief.
He posted: ‘I hope and I pray that none of you ever have to have his conversation with your kids, but of course, tragically, some of you already know what this most painful of moments is like.’
However, a tweeter called ‘Normal for Norfolk’ hit back, posting: ‘Count your blessings – children in war torn countries (Syria) lose both parents, their home and have no support. It’s a fact of life.
‘Be thankful for small mercies Simon. Life is precious for all of us. Wishing you well.’
Mr Thomas, the son of a vicar, replied that his family were involved in charity projects to help those less fortunate from Syria.
He wrote: ‘I don’t think you’ll find anywhere that I have made out my grief is unique or more than anyone else’s.
‘My wife was running a Syrian refugee project when she died so I know the pain of the people of that country. My boy has no mum anymore – that is painful full stop!’
The man tweeter than accused Mr Thomas of using social media as a ‘tonic’, before adding: ‘I am just pointing out that thousands experience your pain everyday without the benefit of being well known. Those who’s grief is unnoticed.’
This comment seemed to tip the Sky presenter over the edge, and he fumed: ‘You sir are either just very ignorant or a wind up merchant.
‘Either way I don’t need to read anymore of your insensitive twaddle. Do come and say hello at the next Norwich match. I’d love to have a ‘chat’.
The twitter spat comes after Mr Thomas made an emotional return to TV screens earlier this week.
The presenter left hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield to tears as he spoke about the moment he had to tell Ethan that his mother had died, on This Morning.
Appearing on the ITV show wearing his wife’s wedding ring, he said: ‘I left the hospital. I woke up every patient there and I screamed at God ‘why have you left my boy without a mum?’.
Mr Thomas (right) said it was hard for Ethan because he has lost his mother and is an only child
‘I thought I’ve got to go home and tell him his mum’s gone. What I didn’t give him credit for is that kids – they develop so much in 18 months. My heart was pounding. I didn’t tell Ethan that she was going, I just told him ‘mummy is seriously ill’.
‘I took him through and I held him to her ear. He said he loved her and then he went to play with his cousins.
‘I thought I’ve got to tell him so I took him upstairs and looked into his deep brown eyes and said ‘Ethan I’m really sorry – they couldn’t make mummy better’. And I couldn’t dress it up – I said ‘mummy’s died’.
‘He collapsed onto the floor and I did too and I just held him. I rolled on the floor with him. I would never ever wish that on my worst enemy.’
In his first TV appearance since her death – and wearing his wife’s wedding ring – Mr Thomas reduced hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield to tears as he spoke about the moment he had to tell Ethan that his mother had died
Mr Thomas also spoke to BBC Radio 5 live about his struggle with grief and in particular how his son had taken the process.
He told host Anna Foster his ‘stomach turned over’ when Ethan asked if he would find love again.
‘I knew we had to have the conversation. I want to give him permission to talk about stuff’, he said.
‘I’m not going to close the door, because when you close the door bit by bit, the door shuts, then they know they have no one to talk to at home.’
When Anna asked how he replied, Mr Thomas said: ‘I’m not going to lie. I have thought about it.’