Simon Thomas has removed his wedding ring five months after the tragic death of his wife.
The Sky Sports anchor and former Blue Peter presenter shared an emotional post to Instagram in which he revealed the wedding band has now come off.
His post came the day after Simon confirmed he’s leaving Sky Sports at the end of the football season in May in order to focus on the couple’s eight-year-old son Ethan.
Simon shared a photo to Instagram showing his bare hand in front of a box which contains three rings.
He explained to fans: “With it being five months now and the symbolism of what happened yesterday it feels the right time to do this – something I never expected or wanted to ever do.
Read more: Simon Thomas leaves Sky Sports job after wife Gemma’s death
“Her rings will now wait for the day Ethan hopefully gets to enjoy his day and if they’re half the person his mother was he’ll have done just right.
“Mine will forever remain the physical symbol of what I had and lost.”
Simon’s wife Gemma, 40, died in November, just three days after she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia.
The 45-year-old sports presenter has openly spoken about grief and life without Gemma in communications with fans, and started his own blog – A Grief Shared – to detail his thoughts and feelings.
His latest blog post confirmed he will step down from his Sky Sports role next month.
He has not worked since Gemma’s death and told fans he made the decision to quit his post at Sky with a “heavy but peaceful heart.”
Simon said there were multiple factors that influenced his decision but, most importantly, it was the desire to spend more time with his and Gemma’s young son, Ethan.
“He’s lost his mum; for him, so much has changed, I can’t always be with him 24/7 but what I have no choice in is that I have to put him first,” wrote Simon.
Simon said his Sky Sports job had taken him away from home at weekends and while friends and family had offered to care for Ethan, he wanted to do it himself.
“I need to spend the next few months working out with him how we move forward. What’s going to work for him; what isn’t? Much as those offers of looking after Ethan have been so generous; but is this the life I want for him, being passed around different people every time I go to work?
“No one knows him better than me, and I know he’d hate this being his every day reality. I need the time to work this all out.”
Simon also admitted he wasn’t sure he could summon the passion for football he once had, saying Gemma’s death had changed his perspective on things.
Everything changes . . . . . . . . . . for now! https://t.co/spgi7iiSS2 pic.twitter.com/NtBvPLd9Aw
— Simon Thomas (@SimonThomasSky) April 27, 2018
“Being totally honest, the game I have loved for my whole life, the game I’ve had the amazing privilege of working on for these past few years, at the moment just doesn’t matter,” he said.
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“For the first few weeks I barely watched a game, mainly because I couldn’t focus on anything. More recently, I have enjoyed watching football again, but the flames of passion I once had for it are, for now at least, gone. I hope one day they will relight again, but at the moment there’s barely a flicker.”
Simon told fans he will now focus on life with Ethan and writing a book.
He also wants to explore other broadcasting opportunities, and continue raising awareness and money for the Bloodwise UK charity.
Read Simon’s full blog post here