Rio Ferdinand is a devoted father to his three young children Lorenz, Tate and Tia.
But as his beloeved wife, Rebecca, battled breast cancer for the second time he had to break the devastating news to them that their mum was losing her fight.
Rebecca was just 34 when she passed away from breast cancer.
Struggling to cope with his own heartbreaking loss, the former Manchester United ace, put his own grief to one side to help his children cope with the devastating events.
Rio had to explain to his young children what was happening to their beloved mum.
In his autobiography, Thinking Out Loud, Rio explains how he found the strength to have the emotional conversation.
He said: "I gazed at my beautiful children, lost for words, searching for a way to begin - 'I'm afraid I've got to tell you something very, very sad.
"'Mum's not going to be able to get out of here. She's got cancer and this time she isn't going to get better'."
Rio reassured his children everything had been done to save Rebecca, telling them "they've been trying to help her, the doctors, but they can't any more.
"'She's been strong and she's tried to get better but I'm so sorry..."
Struggling to go on without breaking down but desperate to let Lorenz, Tate and Tia know how much their mum loved them, Rio told them: "She's going to be a star, she's going to go up into the stars as a spirit and she'll always be there in the sky, looking down on us."
Rio admitted even thinking about the moment he had to tell his children their mum was going to pass away "is enough to plunge me back into a darkness I never want to see again".
The Match Of The Day pundit then had to focus all his attention on raising their three children alone.
Rio documented the heartbreaking months and years before Rebecca's tragically early death in the powerful documentary Being Mum and Dad.
Then, in October, 2016, Rio found happiness again when he started dating TOWIE star, Katie Wright.
She says she first fell in love with the ex footballer, and then his kids and gave up her showbiz life to focus on the family.
Last year, the couple married in a stunning ceremony in Turkey, with Rio's three children playing a key part.
Lorenz and Tate Kate down the aisle while Tia was her maid of honour,
The three children were also key in Rio's romantic proposal in Dubai, where the couple first met.
Afer his wedding day, Rio admitted it had been a hugely emotional occassion for his family.
He told OK Magazine!: "There was just no going back on the emotion.
"Seeing Tate and Lorenz walk Kate down the aisle was particularly poignant and we wouldn’t have wanted to do it any other way.
"They were so proud and they couldn’t wait to do that, they felt important."
- Rio and Kate: Becoming a Stepfamily is on BBC One at 9pm tonight.
