Vinnie Jones sees therapist ‘three times a week’ after wife’s devastating death
Former footballer Vinnie Jones has revealed that he attends three therapy sessions a week to cope with the painful grief of losing his beloved wife Tanya
Movie star Vinnie Jones says he sees a therapist three times a week to cope with the death of his wife Tanya.
The former professional footballer, 55, lost his beloved spouse to cancer last year at the age of 53.
Speaking to The Sun, Vinnie detailed how much of a struggle it has been since losing the love of his life.
Vinnie said: “I’m seeing someone three times a week. I thought I was doing OK, and then the anniversaries of Tans’s death and our daughter Kaley’s birthday were approaching and it was like somebody just drained the life out of me.
“It feels like you’re pushing a truck with no petrol from here to Manchester uphill on the M1.”
Vinnie and Tanya had first met when he took a drink from her when he was 13 and she was 12.
They reconnected in 1991 when they lived on the same road in Hemel Hemstead and ended up marrying three years later.
Tanya supported Vinnie during his troubles in his career and with alcoholism.
They shared two children: Kaley from Tanya’s previous marriage and Vinnie’s son Aaron from a previous relationship.
Giving birth to Kaley, Tanya had suffered from heart failure and required a heart transplant, taking drugs for which resulted in weakening her immune system and leaving her more likely to suffer from cancer.
Tanya battled cervical cancer twice and had a partial hysterectomy, which meant she and Vinnie could not have biological children.
Both of them were diagnosed with skin cancer in 2013 and while Vinnie recovered, Tanya’s cancer spread to her brain and lungs.
Vinnie is now publishing a book, entitled Lost Without You, which sees him detail his loss and struggles with grief, which he hopes will encourage other men to open up about their mental health and potentially see a therapist.
“Blokes don’t want to talk about it,” said Vinnie. “They’ll talk about the girl they slept with last night, but won’t go and talk to a doctor about how they’re feeling.”
The X-Men: The Last Stand star has explained how he is still learning to deal with Tanya’s passing, but hopes that the “tiredness will ease.”
Whatever happens to Vinnie in future, he is almost certain that he will never marry again.
“I won the Lottery meeting Tans and still got the ticket to prove it,” noted Vinnie. “And that’s what I’ll keep.”
In fact, his focusing on the good memories in his grief is what is keeping Vinnie going.
He concluded: “If it was the other way around I’d want Tans to be happy. But getting through it is a very, very slow process.”
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