Ben Fogle shares heartbreaking tribute to son on 10th anniversary of his stillbirth-Lillie Rohan-Entertainment – Metro

Ben Fogle (L) and Marina Fogle still feel the loss of their stillborn son, Willem, every day. (Picture: Instagram/benfogle)

Ben Fogle has commemorated the death of his stillborn son 10 years after his death, admitting he feels he has a ‘guardian angel’. 

The 50-year-old adventurer and broadcaster and his wife, Marina, were left devastated in 2008 when they lost their unborn child. 

While they went on to welcome their son Ludo in 2009 and daughter Iona in 2011, the couple were faced with yet another tragedy in 2014 when their son, Willem, was stillborn when he was only 33 weeks old. 

Ben has been open about his grief since losing his child and often shares a tribute to him on what would have been his birthday. 

Taking to Instagram today, the New Lives in the Wild presenter heartbreakingly told fans he feels his family has a ‘little guardian angel’ since they lost Willem and theorised why he has such a great love for the outdoors. 

The TV star shared an emotional tribute for his stillborn son (Picture: Kevin Hayes MET)

‘Willem would be 10 today,’ the star began his post. ‘I sometimes see him in my dreams. In the mountains. In the wilds. Maybe that is why I am drawn to the wilderness.’ 

He continued to say while his son ‘might not be here’ physically with his family, ‘he is always there’ seemingly referencing a spiritual presence. 

Telling fans Willem is ‘gone but never forgotten’, Ben poetically wrote that his son is in the ‘sunshine’, ‘stars’, ‘rain’ and ‘in our tears and our laughter’. 

Calling him the Fogle family’s ‘guardian angel’ who keeps them ‘safe’, the TV star signed off the post writing, ‘Love and peace to those who have loved and lost’. 

Ben’s post prompted many fans to express their well wishes, with others sharing their own stories of loss. 

Carole.farish wrote: ‘Sending you and your wonderful family so much love. ❤️ We always will wonder what could have been. I’m a twin (my sister passed away 34 years ago)’. 

Ben and Marina have lost two babies during their attempts at becoming parents (Picture: Nick Harvey/Shutterstock)

The couple share two children, Iona and Ludo (Picture: Instagram/Ben Fogle)

While dinesha.travelsworld added: ‘I’ll tell my Dad in heaven to go play ball with him. Love to you and Marina, he’s waiting for you’. 

‘Beautiful words. As someone has said, you have an Angel with you always.’ Vickandpics wrote. 

In 2021 during a guest appearance on Loose Women, Ben opened up about the devastating day he and Marina lost Willem, admitting he felt ‘helpless’. 

Marina was in Austria visiting family when she felt cramps and was urged by her family to go to the hospital. 

Upon arriving, doctors ran tests and found the mother of two was experiencing a placental abruption, something that can be fatal to both mum and bub as it can deprive the baby of oxygen and cause heavy bleeding in the mother due to the placenta detaching from the uterus. 

Ben was in Canada when the discovery was made and had to rush to be by his wife’s side. 

The Fogle family have a ‘little guardian angel’ looking over them (Picture: Instagram/Ben Fogle)

Ben and Marina have two healthy and happy children (Picture: Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock)

‘It was hard,’ the adventurer said. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself being in Canada and being so helpless.

‘But when I finally got to Austria, which was traumatic in itself, going into the hospital with the children, we’ve always lived a very open and honest life.

‘We were told at a very early stage to make sure we talked to our children because the fear of the unknown is far worse, so if we suddenly said he disappeared and was taken up into the sky, they would take that very literally. So we told them.’

Ben continued to share his reasoning behind discussing the loss of his son publicly, admitting it is a ‘taboo subject’ and talking about it more will help change that and hopefully help other parents. 

‘I’ve done some difficult things in my life, but I don’t think anything really prepared me for this. I hate talking about this – but I do for Marina and charities we support and for all the other mums and dads out there,’ he said. 

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