Annabel Croft has opened up about an early symptom her late husband displayed before being diagnosed with cancer.
The former tennis player’s husband Mel Coleman died in May 2023, 16 weeks after being diagnosed – and Croft has now recalled an interaction she had with her husband before receiving the news from doctors.
“We were making the bed one day and he just turned to me and he said ‘I haven’t told you this Annabel, but I’ve got these funny pains in my side and they’re just not going away, they’re getting worse,” Croft told Gaby Roslin on The Mid Point podcast.
Croft said she initially thought “it must be indigestion or something like a cyst or whatever”, adding: “It never dawned on me that it could be something so absolutely catastrophic.”
After Coleman underwent scans, he was told by doctors he had cancer.
“It started with colon cancer, but it could have been across everywhere at the same time,” Croft explained. “But it spread into the liver, it was spread into the kidneys, even possibly into the brain as well.”
However, Croft confirmed that “what he actually died of was sepsis and there was a perforation from one of the tumours”, which occurred after a “flight to Portugal”.
Colorectal cancer is the world’s second-leading cause of cancer deaths. The risk of getting it increases as people age, but lifestyle and genetic factors can also raise risk.
Symptoms of colorectal cancer, also commonly known as colon cancer, may include changes in bowel habits, blood in stool, diarrhea and constipation, abdominal pain or cramps, and weight loss with no explanation.
Croft married Coleman six years after they met in 1987 when the investment banker and professional yachtsman taught her to sail for a TV programme. They were married in 1993 and had three children.
During lockdown, the couple – who were married for 30 years – started a tennis academy together in Croft’s name, and spent the Covid-19 lockdowns converting an old DPD van into a mobile home.
Coleman’s death inspired Croft to take part in the 2023 series ofStrictly Come Dancing as he was a big fan of the show.
“He used to cry watching it,” she recalled when it was announced that she was joining the series. “He used to call me over if I was cooking, and he was crying watching it. So, I hope he’s watching up there.”
Croft was partnered with Johannes Radebe and finished in fifth place.
