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Helen Skelton and Gethin Jones were overcome with emotion as they paid tribute to Kym Marsh’s late father following his death.
In a post shared on Instagram, Kym announced that her dad David Marsh had died after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Sharing a picture of them in a tight, loving embrace, she wrote in her caption: ‘For the first time in my life….I have no words. I love you dad. Always and forever. Rest easy Pops. Goodnight godbless ❤️❤️❤️💔💔💔.’
On Monday’s Morning Live, Kym’s colleagues Helen and Gethin spoke on the show about the legacy that David had as a person of incredible warmth and as someone dedicated to raising awareness of prostate cancer.
Gethin, 45, began by explaining that ever since Kym, 47, joined Morning Live in 2020, the team has ‘known her dad Dave’, who was born in 1945.
‘He often came down to the studio when Kym was filming and in 2021 he made the decision to share his story with us after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He wasn’t always comfortable in doing it but he was determined to get the message out there, wasn’t he?’ he said.
Helen and Gethin remembered Dave fondly, saying that was incredibly warm person (Picture: BBC)
Helen, 40, continued: ‘He made regular conscious decisions to improve people’s lives – whenever he met them, not just with this. It’s having a massive legacy. After over two years of raising awareness of the disease, Dave sadly died on Friday surrounded by Kym and his family.’
As part of Dave’s final wishes, he wanted Morning Live to ‘take a moment to remind everyone why it’s important to get checked early’, as the programme showed a montage of photos and videos remembering his life and legacy.
Helen described spending time with Dave to being like ‘spending time with sunshine’, emphasising how he was the ‘warmest man’ who was ‘constantly making people laugh’.
‘I could recount story after story. I caught him once singing to a hotel receptionist. She’d done a 12-hour day, she’d had a difficult day. He had everyone in the reception singing at her. Why? Because he made her day great,’ the presenter recalled.
Blowing a kiss, she added: ‘Wherever you are Dave.’
What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?
According to the NHS website, symptoms of prostate cancer can include:
Needing to urinate more frequently, often during the night
Needing to rush to the toilet
Difficulty in starting to urinate
Straining or taking a long time while urinating
Weak flow
Feeling that your bladder has not emptied fully
Blood in urine or blood in semen.
However, symptoms don’t tend to present themselves until the cancer has grown large enough to put pressure on the urethra.
This is why it is recommended that you have regular check-ups, even when symptomless.
Gethin informed viewers that Kym was watching Monday’s Morning Live episode, and gave them a message on Sunday night for them to read on air.
‘She goes, “I and my family want to thank Morning Live viewers for the unwavering support they’ve shown to Dad and us since his cancer diagnosis. He was extremely proud of the work he did with the show to raise awareness of prostate cancer and the importance of getting checked,”’ he read.
‘“He wanted to try and break the taboo and was so happy when he received letters, he had so many from viewers who’d seen his story and as a result, had visited their doctor.”’
Helen then concluded the message, continuing: ‘She went on to say, “Dad was an incredible man who left a lasting impression on everyone he met. He was kind, loving, funny and very quick-witted.
“‘Even in his final days, he was telling us jokes and trying to keep our spirits up. He was the best husband, dad and grandad and great-grandad my family could have wished for, and we are all truly heartbroken at his passing.”’
Helen then appeared to become choked up by the heartfelt words in Kym’s message.
Kym has received a wave of support from fans for her and her family (Picture: Kym Marsh/Instagram)
‘You’ll have to bear with us, ‘cause I’m sure you can tell, it’s having an effect on everybody, because that is what family is and you’re part of our family,’ she said.
Several Morning Live viewers posted messages of support, including an X user who goes by the handle @BanoffeePirate, who wrote: ‘Sending our love and thoughts to kym and her family during this very hard time. Dave was a true gentleman and his legacy will live on and hopefully help so many more men out there.’
‘My condolences to Kym and her family and to you all at morning live on the loss of her dad Dave,’ added another viewer called Sheila.
The charity Prostate Cancer UK also posted a response, which read: ‘Our heartfelt thanks to @BBCMorningLive for featuring our Director of Support and Influencing Chiara De Biase @oscdebosc on today’s show.
‘She spoke about the amazing legacy left by Kym Marsh’s father who has sadly died with advanced prostate cancer. This disease is curable if caught early. Dave was determined to raise awareness. Thank you, @msm4rsh 💙.’
Morning Live airs weekdays from 9.30am on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Macmillan cancer support
If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with cancer, Macmillan can offer support and information.
You can contact their helpline on 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week from 8am to 8pm), use their webchat service, or visit their site for more information.
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‘I’m sure you can tell, it’s having an effect on everybody,’ Helen told viewers.
