This is the moment Vinnie Jones breaks down in tears as he recalls his beloved wife Tanya’s final days before she died after a six-year battle with cancer.
The hardman footballer-turned-actor wept as he told the Sunday Mirror he has cried ‘almost every night’ since his spouse of 25 years died in their Hollywood home on July 6.
Speaking of her final moments, surrounded by family, he said: ‘I was cuddling her and holding her hand and when she finally went it felt like Tinkerbell had released from her into the room.
‘I got peace from that.’
This is the moment Vinnie Jones breaks down in tears as he recalls the final moments he shared with wife Tanya before she died after a six-year battle with cancer
Jones, 54, who won the 1988 FA Cup with Wimbledon’s ‘Crazy Gang’ and made his film debut in Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels a decade later, said he would ‘never be with anyone else’ after losing his true love.
Speaking at Tanya’s childhood home near Watford, Vinnie choked up with tears as he read a handwritten love letter his wife left behind, emblazoned with the words ‘Always Believe Something Wonderful is About to Happen’.
Inside the card, which Vinnie carries with him everywhere, she wrote: ‘To my love Vin, something wonderful happens to me every day. It’s being with you. You are my morning sunshine the moment I wake. All my love, Tanya.’
‘I broke down when I read it because I loved her like that too,’ he told the publication.
Speaking at Tanya’s childhood home near Watford, Vinnie choked up with tears as he read a handwritten love letter his wife left behind, emblazoned with the words ‘Always Believe Something Wonderful is Going to Happen’
Speaking at Tanya’s childhood home near Watford, Vinnie choked up with tears as he described his wife’s last days she was told there would be no more treatment (the couple pictured in August 2018)
Describing Tanya’s final days, he said: ‘In the hospital I got this I got a wonderful, wonderful memory just before we brought her home.
‘She would sleep a lot, wake up, then fall asleep again. The nurses and doctors said: “Talk away, she is listening to you.”
‘There was one moment when we were talking about her horse and she was fast asleep, then all of a sudden she put her hands up like she was riding a horse.
‘She was stroking her pillow, as if stroking the horse’s mane. It proved to us she was listening.’
In the days before her death, Tanya was treated at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles before spending her last hours in the couple’s Los Angeles home.
The hardman footballer-turned-actor told the Sunday Mirror he cried ‘almost every night’ since his wife of 25 years died in their Hollywood home on July 6
Speaking at Tanya’s childhood home near Watford, Vinnie choked up with tears as he described his wife Tanya’s last days she was told there would be no more treatment (pictured in 2013)
Vinnie said: ‘In that last week of her life when the doctors said there were no more treatments, I never told her she was dying. We never spoke of that, I didn’t want her to know.
‘In the hospital I slept there every night and Kaley would come every morning.’
Speaking the moment she passed away, Vinnie said: ‘We knew it was the end, we were cuddling her. I kissed her a lot and told her I loved her. I kept saying “I love you, I love you”.’
In 2013, Vinnie revealed both he and Tanya had melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, and he was later given the all-clear.
Speaking of their relationship, an emotional Jones said: ‘People say, how did it last? And I say because it was real, true love. I think we found true love’ (pictured in August 2019)
Tanya, who died aged 53, had also been treated twice for cervical cancer and underwent a heart transplant at 21 following the birth of her daughter Kaley.
Speaking of their relationship, an emotional Vinnie said: ‘People say, how did it last? And I say because it was real, true love. I think we found true love.’
The couple met 25 years ago while Vinnie played for AFC Wimbledon, where he and a group of players earned notoriety as a members of the ‘Crazy Gang’ at the club.
They married in Watford in 1994 and renewed their vows in 2007 (pictured in 2008)
They married in Watford in 1994 and renewed their vows in Las Vegas 2007, with Vinnie wearing the same purple wedding suit he wore when they first tied the knot 13 years earlier.
Tanya is survived by her daughter, Kaley, by her former husband Steve Terry, and a son, Aaron, who she shares with Vinnie.
Speaking about his future without Tanya by his side, Vinnie said: ‘I just feel content crashing through the last 10 to 20 years of life in Tanya’s waiting room.
Tanya Jones (pictured left in 1994 and right with Vinnie at their wedding) passed away surrounded by her family
‘In the evenings I’ve cried every night… it’s lonely. It’s not self pity crying it’s “how am I going to go on?”.’
Vinnie also revealed he has bought a cemetery plot next to Tanya’s so his ashes can be buried alongside hers, according to the publication.
At the age of 21, Tanya was forced to undergo an emergency heart transplant and was treated for cervical cancer twice before being diagnosed with melanoma.
It is thought that her cancer may have been a side effect of the drugs she has been taking following the heart transplant 26 years ago.
Tanya, who died aged 53, had also been treated twice for cervical cancer and underwent a heart transplant at 21 following the birth of her daughter Kaley (pictured in 2010)
When the couple were first diagnosed, the former football legend said: ‘When it comes to things like this, women are stronger.
‘Suddenly I’ve gone from the one helping her to the one that needs support.
‘I take my strength from Tanya. She believes her life was saved to save me, and in return I feel it is my role to look after her.’
He added he did not know what he would do without her.
In an interview with the Daily Mirror in 2017, Vinnie described Tanya as ‘the most incredible person’, adding: ‘I think we’re the perfect match and I was lucky to find it.’