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Grieving Simon Thomas reveals stranger’s incredible gesture after his wife’s death

What a wonderful and moving gesture

Our hearts have been breaking for Simon Thomas ever since he suffered the devastating loss of his wife in November.

The former Blue Peter presenter’s beloved partner Gemma tragically died just four days after being diagnosed with leukaemia. She was 40 years old.

And it seems like we’re not the only ones who’ve felt like reaching out to the heartbroken star.

Simon, 44, has revealed on social media that a complete stranger has brought light into his and his son’s lives with an incredible act of kindness.

Since Gemma passed away, the Sky Sports host has been trying to help his eight-year-old lad Ethan cope with his mum’s loss.

Each day, Simon has been leaving Ethan a ‘snack note’ scrawled with motivational words to get him through the day, and then uploading it to social media.

Well, one of his followers saw his sweet gestures and decided that the grieving dad could do with a little comfort himself.

Amazingly, they wrote 365 snack notes of their own – one for each day of the coming year – and sent them to Simon.

Read more: Sky presenter Simon Thomas shares tribute to late wife eight weeks after her death

Sharing a photo of the bundle on Instagram, Simon said: “Today’s #snacknote is a bit different. Since Gemma went, I have been so moved by the support and messages I get from people on here, people I haven’t even met, yet people who care about me and what I’m going through.

“A guy called Dan Ritchie, who I have yet to meet (but will), had seen my notes for Ethan and felt I needed some too, to encourage me and help me keep going when I feel like giving up.

“So he’s written me a daily note too – for every single day of the coming year!

“That’s #lightinthedarkness.”

Gemma died shortly after being diagnosed with a highly aggressive form of acute myeloid leukaemia.

And last week, the presenter posted an angry tweet in which he slammed doctors for sending his wife home THREE TIMES before they finally recognised what her illness was.

He wrote: “Three times my wife Gemma went to the doctor in six days, and three times she was sent home and told to rest.

Read more: Simon Thomas shares heartbreaking message as he returns to family home after wife’s death

“Four days after her final visit to her GP she was dead. We have to help and train our GPs and to detect blood cancer earlier.”

Since Gemma’s death, Simon has been very open about his grieving process, sharing poignant family pictures with his fans on social media.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

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