England international Tom Youngs has found happiness again after the painful loss of his wife
Former England international Tom Youngs has opened up on his grieving process after losing his wife. Youngs retired with immediate effect to care for wife Tiffany, who was battling cancer.
The pair shared a daughter, Maisie. Tiffany passed away in 2022 at the age of 35. She had initially been told she was in remission in 2018 after first being diagnosed in 2014, but the cancer came back.
Now, more than three years later, Youngs has opened up on what it’s been like for him from a mental standpoint.
He appeared as a guest on a recent episode of ‘For The Love Of Rugby’ podcast, which is presented by his brother and fellow England international Ben Youngs, as well as Dan Cole.
Being interviewed by Ben, Tom was asked “how is life now?” after numerous requests from viewers of the show. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
“Life’s good now, actually,” began Tom in an emotional but ultimately uplifting interview.
“I think I’ve found my feet. I’ve got Maisie at home. I’ve got a new girlfriend called Kate, which is fantastic, we’re getting on well.
“Life, will it ever be the same? Probably not. That’s the reality. You’ve got a scar there but you can make the best out of life, as much as you want to do.
“I’m a big believer in, if anyone’s been through anything I’ve been through, do not try and stop life, because you cannot.
“Life will just keep going forward. If you do try and stop it you’re probably going to get yourself in a bit of trouble. You’ve got to roll with life.
“Whatever it is, you’ve just got to keep going forward, as best you can and make the best of the situation you’ve got in some regards.
“I’m very much a glass-half-full kind of guy, and I feel like that probably helped me a lot. But, don’t try and stop it, because I think you can dig yourself in a deep hole very quickly.”
“I know that a lot of listeners will be very pleased to hear that,” added Ben.
“Life being good, that’s OK as well,” emphasised Tom.
“I think I found that quite tricky.
“Actually being happy was weird. Should I be happy? Shouldn’t I be? But, yes. You should be. I didn’t do anything wrong. Tiff didn’t do anything wrong.
“The situation happened and then we have to move on from that, and that’s tough to say. But, that’s reality. You’ve got to be OK that you are happy.”
If you would like to watch the full episode, click here.
