British Sky Sports presenter Simon Thomas has shared a stranger’s heartwarming show of support after he lost his wife just days to leukemia just days after she was misdiagnosed.
The 44-year-old took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a picture of 365 motivational notes a stranger wrote for him to help him through every day of the year.
The Reading-based presenter revealed he was incredibly touched by the act of kindness, which came after the stranger noticed Simon had written similar daily notes for their eight-year-old son Ethan.
Simon lost his wife Gemma, aged just 40, in November when she was sent home for bed rest by her GP after visiting three times with flu-like symptoms.
British Sky Sports presenter Simon Thomas has shared a stranger’s heartwarming show of support after he lost his wife just days to leukemia just days after she was misdiagnosed. Pictured with his eight-year-old son Ethan
Simon lost his wife Gemma, aged just 40, in November when she was sent home for bed rest by her GP after visiting three times with flu-like symptoms
The Reading-based presenter, 44, revealed he was incredibly touched by the act of kindness, which came after the stranger noticed Simon had written similar daily notes for their eight-year-old son Ethan
Simon, who previously presented Blue Peter, posted a snap of what he called the ‘snack notes’, online.
‘Today’s #snacknote is a bit different. Since Gemma went I have been so moved by the support and messages I get from people on here, people I haven’t even met, yet people who care about me and what I’m going through,’ he wrote.
British Sky Sports presenter Simon Thomas took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a picture of 365 motivational notes a stranger wrote for him to help him through every day of the year
Simon lost his wife Gemma, aged just 40, in November when she was sent home for bed rest by her GP after visiting three times with flu-like symptoms
Revealing the kind stranger’s act, he continued: ‘A guy called Dan Ritchie, who I have yet to meet (but will) had seen my notes for Ethan and felt I needed some too, to encourage me and help me keep going when I feel like giving up.
‘So he’s written me a daily note too – for every single day of the coming year! That’s #lightinthedarkness right there’.
And the post was soon inundated with comments from supportive followers.
‘We are right behind you Simon. We all have our guardian angels… fall and they catch you. Such a kind, thoughtful gesture that restores faith in humanity,’ one person wrote.
Another added: ‘Amazing. This made me cry and smile all at once’, while a third wrote: ‘What a great guy Dan is. Warms the heart that some people out there care when they are strangers’.
The notes came just days after Simon shared his own messages to his son Ethan to Instagram, writing: ‘He’s better and today’s snack notes are back’.
The notes came just days after Simon shared his own messages to his son Ethan to Instagram, writing: ‘He’s better and today’s snack notes are back’
The note to his grieving son read: ”My boy- you’re better! Whoopee! Do more today and this week of what makes you awesome! Love you so much, daddy xxx’
The note to his grieving son read: ”My boy- you’re better! Whoopee! Do more today and this week of what makes you awesome! Love you so much, daddy xxx’.
Gemma had flu-like symptoms and went to see the doctor three times over the course of six days in November, before she was finally admitted to hospital when her condition continued to deteriorate.
The mother-of-one was suffering from a highly aggressive form of acute myeloid leukemia and tragically died four days after her final trip to the GP.
Simon has been open about his battle with coming to terms with her death, bravely sharing his mourning process online.
In a heartbroken tweet posted just weeks ago, he shared a snap of the two hugging, writing: ‘Eight weeks ago I lost the love of my life. Gemma was everything – my soul mate, my rock, the wind beneath my wings and a beautiful mum. The pain of life without her is at times too much to bear but out of this heartbreak the light will shine again. Life is so precious.’
He then wrote: ‘Feel absolutely gutted that my favourite day of the week has now become the worst. I actually can’t wait for Monday to come.’
But he appears to have found some solace in raising awareness about the disease, writing in a now viral tweet: ‘Three times my wife Gemma went to the doctor in six days and three times she was sent home and told to rest.
‘Four days after her final visit to her GP she was dead. We have to help and train our GP’s and to detect blood cancer earlier. @bloodwise is doing this. #hiddencancer’.
Simon is now backing a campaign to educate GPs about the disease, encouraging them to take blood tests from suspected sufferers of the disease which affects 2,600 people in Britain a year.
The post was soon inundated with comments from supportive followers
‘We have to help and train our GP’s and to detect blood cancer earlier. @bloodwise is doing this. #hiddencancer’: Simon appears to have found some solace in raising awareness about the disease
‘Eight weeks ago I lost the love of my life. Gemma was everything – my soul mate, my rock, the wind beneath my wings and a beautiful mum,’ he has bravely shared his heartbreak online