It has been almost two years since Rio Ferdinand lost his wife Rebecca to breast cancer.
The footballer, famous from his career with both Manchester United and also on the England team, opens up about the loss of his soulmate and mother of his three children in a heartbreaking documentary that airs on BBC1 tonight.
Rebecca Ellison was only 34 when she died after a short battle with cancer in 2015, and Ferdinand was left raising the couple’s three children, Lorenz, 11, Tate, 8, and Tia, 6, by himself.
In a moving statement after her death, Ferdinand said:
“Rebecca, my wonderful wife, passed away peacefully after a short battle with cancer at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. She was a fantastic loving mother to our three beautiful children. She will be missed as a wife, sister, aunt, daughter and granddaughter. She will live on in our memory, as a guide and inspiration.”
In the documentary ‘Being Mum and Dad,’ the 38-year-old footballer lifts the lid on life after loss, and how he struggled trying to be both a mother- and father figure to his young children when their mum passed away.
The show also explores how bereaved parents manage grief and support their children – and shares how the only way they can truly support them is to rebuild their lives. The footballer also blasts the Government for cutting back on the length of time widowed parents can receive bereavement benefits.
