RIO’S STRUGGLES AFTER WIFE’S DEATH
Rio Ferdinand says he does not know how to help his children grieve for their mum following her tragic death from breast cancer two years ago. The former United player (pictured) even admits that he thought about taking his own life in the days following wife Rebecca’s death and how he turned to whisky and brandy to cope. Rio makes the frank admissions in a TV documentary exploring how bereaved parents try to come to terms with their loss and mould new lives for themselves and their children.
RiO Ferdinand says he does not know how to help his children grieve for their mum following her death from breast cancer two years ago.
The former United star even admits that he thought about taking his own life in the days following wife Rebecca’s death and how he turned to whisky and brandy to cope.
Rio makes the frank admissions in a TV documentary exploring how bereaved parents try to come to terms with their loss and mould new lives for themselves and their children.
in the film, which airs next week, he admits how deeply the loss hit him, explaining: “When i used to hear about people who’d committed suicide i’d think, ‘You selfish so-andso, how can you do something like that?’ But there’s a time at the beginning you kind of know how they feel.”
Rebecca had beaten breast cancer two years earlier and by the time doctors found the disease had returned it had spread. She died five weeks later on May 2, 2015, aged 34. Since then Rio, 38, has been lone parent to their children Lorenz, now 10, Tate, eight, and Tia, five.
in the documentary, he says he was not ready to face counselling straight after Rebecca’s death.
He also says he turned to booze to cope with the shock of losing his wife. He later tells a therapist he is most worried about eldest son Lorenz, 10, who has barely spoken about his mum’s death. “i get nothing out of the two boys,” said Rio, whose second son Tate, and daughter Tia, also appear. He adds: “i don’t think i’ve grieved properly.
A big help is the introduction of a ‘memory jar’ – a bottle into which the three of them can put memories of their mother on little bits of paper.
Speaking since filming, Rio revealed he bought bottles of his wife’s perfume for the kids. He said: “i can smell it sometimes, they’ve sprayed it on their pillows or on something they sleep with.”
Rio Ferdinand: Being Mum And Dad is on BBC1 on Tuesday, March 28, at 9pm.