Ronnie Turner gave his wife Afida a ‘very nice gift’ before his death (Picture: AP)
The wife of Tina Turner’s late son Ronnie is planning to fulfil her dreams of becoming a first-time mother by having a baby using his sperm.
Ronnie died in December 2022 at the age of 62 from colon cancer – six months before the death of his music icon mother Turner in May following prolonged health issues.
He was survived by his wife Afida, a French-born singer and actress who he was married to 15 years.
In a new interview, Afida has explained how Ronnie was reportedly ready for fatherhood until he was diagnosed with late-stage metastatic colon cancer last November. After doctors found a tumour, the disease soon spread to his pancreas and stomach and he died the following month.
However, Ronnie was prepared even before learning of his diagnosis and froze his sperm as a birthday gift to Afida, 46, in late 2021.
‘I’m going to have Ronnie’s baby!’ she told People.
Afida, 46, hopes she’ll be able to conceive a baby through IVF using Ronnie’s sperm (Picture: WireImage)
Ronnie was diagnosed with colon cancer in November 2022 and he died three weeks later
‘If I can. I’m 46. But we’ll see,’ Afida added.
The musician is planning on conceiving the baby through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) before her next birthday which falls on December 22.
On the prospect of raising the child without her husband, Afida said: ‘It’s still bad because he’s not here, but what can I do? At least I will have a little one that looks like Ronnie. A monster like me and him, can you imagine?’
Grateful for the chance to have their baby, Afida said Ronnie left her a ‘very nice gift’ while stating she will never ‘find another man like that in [her] life.’
Following news of his death, Afida paid tribute to ‘a terrific musician and bass player’ with an ‘amazing soul’ and a ‘heart of [a] giant’.
She added at the time that Ronnie was a ‘true angel’ and a ‘highly spiritual one of a kind’.
Sharing the cause of his death, she wrote in an Instagram post: ‘Very very very bad Ronnie got sick in 3 weeks f**k cancer.’
In her own tribute, Ronnie’s mother Tina wrote: ‘Ronnie, you left the world far too early. In sorrow I close my eyes and think of you, my beloved son.’
Tina Turner herself died in May aged 83 after a long illness (Picture: AP)
Turner herself died on May 24 with her publicist announcing the news in a statement, which said: ‘Tina Turner, the “Queen of Rock’n Roll” has died peacefully today at the age of 83 after a long illness in her home in Kusnacht near Zurich, Switzerland.
‘With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model.’
An exact cause of death has not been revealed and she was cremated soon after her death in a private ceremony.
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Afida’s husband Ronnie, who was Turner’s son, died in December 2022.
