Gordon Ramsay has reflected on the tragic loss of his son Rocky after his wife Tana suffered a workshop at 20 weeks in 2016.
The chef, 56, admitted losing Rocky was ‘really tough’ but said the loss brought his family ‘closer together’, before they later welcomed their youngest child, Oscar, four.
Tana recently said that Rocky had been born with a ‘strong heartbeat’ but was ‘too little to survive’, as she paid tribute to him on the seventh anniversary of his death.
Gordon explained the family honored Rocky by naming their house in Cornwall after him and they all own pieces of jewelery engraved with his name.
In an interview with People, Gordon said: ‘Losing Rocky was really tough, and then just being there and watching the trauma unfold, it’s just this life-changing moment…
‘A: I was grateful that we were there together. B: Tana always struggled with her bloods and so there was always issues with getting those bloods absolutely right.
‘So there was this incredible celebration that she was pregnant and everything was going fine.
‘And all of a sudden it just changes within 24 hours. So, I think if anything it bought the whole family together, closer, Jack’s still got the little dog tag with Rocky.
‘And we’ve got these little incredible bits of jewelery together that we connect through.
‘And then the picture and then Rocky Bay House in Cornwall…. And it’s hard because we would never have had Oscar if we hadn’t had Rocky, and so there was no substitute, far from it.
‘But it just brought us a bond that you’d never experienced in a normal situation, and so it was incredible.’
In July, Tana marked seven years since she had lost Rocky in a reflective Instagram post, sharing a snap of her daughter Holly’s tattoo she’d gotten in memory of her late brother, as well as a family snap taken days before their tragic loss.
She wrote: ‘A happy picture taken of us celebrating [daughter] Megan’s 18th, I was just under 20 weeks pregnant’.
‘Little did we know, a few days later I will be holding our little boy Rocky – born with a strong heartbeat, but too little to survive’.
‘Even though it’s 7 years today, it still feels like yesterday. We all miss you everyday. We love you Rocky, forever in our hearts. I couldn’t do this without my family, you are everything to me’.
As well as Holly Gordon and Tana share Megan, 24, Tilly, 21, Jack, 23, and four-year-old Oscar.
Gordon previously told Weekend magazine he had been overwhelmed by the support they had received and again admitted the loss had brought the family closer together.
Gordon reflected in the intimate interview: ‘The support we’ve had has been unbelievable. You don’t realize until it happens to you how many people are affected. Sadly it happens every day.’
The TV announced he and Tana were expecting their personality fifth child on The Late Late Show in the US – telling good friend and host James Corden: ‘We have three girls and a boy… and one more on the way!’
However five months into the pregnancy, his wife was taken into the Portland Hospital in London, where they were left grief-stricken upon discovering they had lost the child.
Four months on, Gordon says the family were battling through it with the help of supportive family and friends – including their famous pals Jamie and Jools Oliver and David and Victoria Beckham, who they are often seen relaxing with in LA and London.
‘Jamie and Jools were among the first to reach out and send their sympathy,’ he said, adding that the compassion of the Beckhams – who have children of similar ages to the Ramsays’ and a home near theirs in LA – has also buoyed them .
‘Victoria and David have been amazing,’ he said. ‘They came to see Tana and me immediately and showed their support, and that was mind-blowing.’
Before continuing on the other members of their support system: ‘Friends have rallied and we’ve got through it together, as a family.
‘We were devastated, but thankfully we’re through the worst now. It could happen at any time to anyone.’
Before going on to say: ‘It has brought us all so much closer,’ he said. ‘You realize how lucky you are and you reflect on what you have, how fortunate you are with your remaining children and you remind yourself of what you’ve got. It’s made the family unit even tighter.’
