Tom Daley’s dying father asked him a terrible question only hours before he died.
In a moving account of his father’s last days, Tom Daley expressed the desire that everyone would have for him to participate in the London 2012 Olympics. Tom experienced the heartache of losing his father, Robert, when he was just 17 years old. Robert died in 2011 at the age of 40 from a brain tumor.
Their shared dream was for the former Plymouth College student to excel at home. He described how his mother had called him back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, knowing that his father’s time was running out.
He described the terrifying moments before his father passed away while speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. He is still committed to honoring his family through his accomplishments. Gold medallist Tom and double Olympic rowing champion Helen Glover will have the distinction of carrying the British flag tonight as the Games get underway against the backdrop of historic Paris. Every Olympic experience that Tom has is very personal, according to the Mirror.
“I get home and I see my dad in a hospital bed in the living room,” he narrated to Lauren Laverne in 2018, adding that “as the days went by his condition started to deteriorate.” ‘Do we have our tickets yet?’ was one of his last words to me, you know?
“I asked myself, ‘Tickets for what? And he declared, “I want to be right on the front row, so those London 2012 tickets are important.” And I was like, “Oh my goodness,” not knowing how to break the news to him that he wouldn’t be able to sit in the first row. He had passed out the following day, when our entire family and circle of friends was present. His chest caught our attention. He stopped breathing while I held his hand.”
Olympic champion Tom Daley’s father’s heartbreaking last request was unanswered
As the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics begins this evening, Team GB poster boy Tom Daley—whose father Robert is always on his mind—will carry the British flag.
In his own words, Tom Daley’s father was his “biggest cheerleader.”
From the time his son was eight years old and not even scouted until he was competing at the top level in the Olympic games, Robert Daley supported him. He had hoped to see Tom compete for his country in the 2012 London Olympics, but sadly, it was not to be.
Tom lost his father Robert when he was barely 17 years old, which occurred prior to his amazing achievement as an Olympic diver. Their common objective was for the athlete to compete on the largest stage in his own nation after his father passed away from a brain tumor in 2011 at the age of 40.
Tom’s mother called him back from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, before the competition, informing him that his dad was dying.
As he continues his quest to make his family proud, Tom openly discussed those final, heartbreaking hours when discussing Robert’s passing on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.
In 2018, he told anchor Lauren Laverne, “I get home and I see my dad in a hospital bed in the living room.” “As the days passed, his health began to decline. ‘Do we have our tickets yet?’ was one of his last words to me, you know?
I wondered, ‘Tickets for what?'” And he declared, “I want to be right on the front row, so those London 2012 tickets are important.” And I was like, “Oh my goodness,” not knowing how to break the news to him that he wouldn’t be able to sit in the first row.
“He had passed out the following day, in front of our entire family and circle of acquaintances. His chest caught our attention. He stopped breathing while I was holding his hand,” he claimed.
