Simon Thomas has shared the heartbreaking news his ‘loving and endlessly kind’ friend has died from cancer, nine years after he lost his wife to the disease.
The Sports presenter, 52, lost his first wife Gemma suddenly to cancer aged 40 in 2017.
Almost a decade later, Simon has suffered another heartbreak as he announced his longtime friend Becca had passed away after a battle with the disease.
Simon shared the devastating news on Instagram on Wednesday that Becca had died on her ninth wedding anniversary.
Sharing a picture of Becca, he wrote: ‘Goodbye my friend – another life that had so many more miles to travel; so many more moments to savor; cut cruelly short by cancer.
‘You didn’t deserve this. So few do who get cut down by this horrific disease. You had already stared cancer in the face last year and fought your way back. Finally it was behind you, finally you could look forward to the years ahead with your family only for it to return six weeks ago and wield the cruellest and quickest of blows.
Simon Thomas has shared the heartbreaking news his ‘loving and endlessly kind’ friend has died from cancer, nine years after he lost his wife to the disease (Seen in 2023)
The Sports presenter, 51, lost his first wife Gemma suddenly to cancer aged 40 in 2017 (Simon, Gemma and their son Ethan seen)
‘And to take you on your ninth wedding anniversary feels even more cruel.’
Simon shared his heartbreak Becca leaves behind a daughter called Emilia and husband Andy.
He added: ‘The one thing cancer will never steal is Becca. She was a wonderful friend and brilliant housemate in the SW London days. Loving, warm, fun, endlessly kind, and one of the best organisers I have ever met. Even in pain, even when life kept asking too much of her, she kept loving, kept giving, kept showing up.
‘I am gutted to lose her as a friend; but most of all I am heartbroken for Andy and Emilia.
‘And I’m angry. We keep being told we’re closer to a cure for cancer, that survival rates are getting better and yet all I see is this dreadful disease taking more and more of the people I love.’
He ended his post with: ‘I am grateful beyond words that Becca was my friend. Her love lives on in Andy, in little Emilia, and I know she’s now with her Heavenly Father, free from pain and struggle. #cancer sucks.’
In April 2023, Simon opened up about the traumatic experience of losing Gemma to cancer and has revealed how God ‘brought love’ back into his life with his new partner Derrina.
Gemma’s death in 2017 at 40 resulted in what Simon describes as a ‘life earthquake’, and as a result of her passing he took time off to look after his then-eight-year-old son, essentially tearing up his contract at Sky.
Almost a decade later, Simon has suffered another heartbreak as he announced his longtime friend Becca (Pictured) had passed away after a battle with the disease
Gemma’s death in 2017 at 40 resulted in what Simon describes as a ‘life earthquake’, and as a result of her passing he took time off to look after his then-eight-year-old son (Simon and Gemma seen in 2015)
The presenter recounted the rapid progression of his wife’s illness, and the profound impact that it had on his life – including his battle with his own faith.
‘We went from Monday night with her being diagnosed with a blood cancer of some sort. For a couple of days, things were looking OK the treatment was going well but then things just cartwheeled out of control.’
He continued: ‘On the Friday she falls unconscious and by 8.30 on Friday morning I’m being told by a consultant ‘she’s not going to see out the day’.
‘The very foundations on which your life has been built are trembling, there’s a massive life earthquake going on. And by 5.45pm on that Friday in November 2017 at the age of 40, with an 8-year-old son and a husband, she’s gone.
‘The first thing I did when I came out of that hospital was I just sank to my knees and shouted at God ‘Why? Why, why, why? Why’ve you left my boy without a mum, I don’t get it, I don’t get you God!’.’
In 2024 he paid a heartfelt tribute to his then-pregnant partner Derrina after she helped him through the grief losing Gemma.
In 2024 he paid a heartfelt tribute to his then-pregnant partner Derrina after she helped him through the grief losing Gemma (Seen with their daughter Talitha)
He praised her as a wonderful stepmother and said she loves his son Ethan, now 14, ‘like her own’.
After admitting to drinking heavy amid his grief, he told The Sun: ‘Without a doubt, [Derrina] is the reason Ethan is on a level footing’.
‘She is a mother figure who came into his life, and it’s an amazing sacrifice to love someone else’s child.’
Before adding: ‘So, despite everything that’s happened, Ethan is incredibly lucky and blessed, which is a weird thing to say.’
If you are struggling with bereavement call National Bereavement Partnership helpline on 0800 448 0800
