Sky Sports presenter Simon Thomas has described the 'horrendous' moment he told his eight-year-old son Ethan that his mother had died. Gemma Thomas passed away suddenly last year at the age of 40, just three days after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia.
In his first in-depth interview since her death, Thomas told BBC Radio 5 live: 'I took [Ethan] upstairs, I sat him on my lap and looked into his eyes... I said you know mummy wasn't well today - I'm afraid mummy's died. And he collapsed onto the floor and the tears... we rolled around the floor together. It was horrendous, there's no other way of saying it.'
The former Blue Peter presenter said he has struggled with his Christian faith since Gemma's death, admitting: 'I rage at God... Why on earth let Ethan now be a motherless boy?' He added that he is 'clinging on by my fingers' to his faith.
Thomas also recalled his final words to his wife, telling her about their first meeting and wedding day. He said he was glad she never knew she would not see Ethan again, as 'that would have broken her heart'. The eight-year-old has since asked his father if he would consider marrying again, to which Thomas replied: 'I'm not going to lie, I have thought about it... I have to find someone who likes me first of all and hopefully loves me.'
Thomas encouraged others to talk about grief, saying: 'In this country we're not very good at talking about grief... if you don't, you're like a bottle of Coke that over time just gets gently shaken until one day it explodes.'
