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Colm Hayes has been inundated with support and words of condolence in the wake of his beloved wife Anne's passing. 'Brave' Anne fought 'an incredible battle' against stage-four metastatic breast cancer for six years. While she 'lived life to the full' during the first four years after her diagnosis, Colm noted that the last two years had been 'really tough' on her. Anne recently passed away surrounded by her loved ones, including Colm, and their two children, Holly and Alex. Grieving the death of a loved one can often be overwhelming and difficult to navigate, but Colm has said he and his children have been leaning on one another and 'hugging each other'. The radio star also gave a special shoutout to his Classic Hits FM listeners, social media followers, and estranged friends and colleagues who have come out of the woodwork and offered them 'immeasurable' support during this time. In a video shared on Friday, Colm began: 'This is the first post I've actually personally posted since Anne passed, my beautiful wife of 35 years, who fought an incredible battle against stage four metastatic cancer for six years. 'The first four years of it, we lived a life. We travelled, she travelled [to] 24 different locations. She had two bags packed every day, one was for the hospital, and one was for the next time she was going away.' View this post on Instagram 'She lived life to the full, and the last two years were really tough on her, but she still went away, she still smiled, she never moaned, she never complained,' Colm said. The presenter thanked 'the amazing staff' at St Vincent's Hospital, who he praised will always have his support going forward after making Anne's last few days as 'comfortable' for them all as possible. 'To all my friends, and to people who have just reached out from Instagram to, gosh, people who I'd forgotten I even had their phone numbers to say "thinking of you",' Colm continued. 'I often thought, "does that really mean anything, when someone passes, strangers sending you messages saying 'thinking of you'",' Colm admitted. 'Yes, it does. It gets you through every single day.' 'The kindness of strangers has been immeasurable. It's unbelievable, and I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. 'I know Anne would be eternally grateful for how you've helped me, and Holly and Alex, get through this,' Colm said. The presenter said he hopes to return to radio and podcasting soon, because he knew that's exactly what Anne would want him to do. 'I loved her so much,' he concluded the video. Colm and Anne's son, Alex, gave a touching speech at her funeral, joking he didn't know anyone who 'raked up so many airmiles and drank so many margaritas' as his mum did in the last few years of his life, before saying his family's hearts had 'broken into a million pieces'. 'Goodbye, mum, we love you,' he added.
