Rio Ferdinand’s Instagram tribute to ‘shining light’ mum who died from cancer

Former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand has paid a touching tribute to his mother, who died on Tuesday after a battle with cancer.

Janice St Fort, mother of Rio, Anton, Sian and Jeremiah, died in hospital aged 58.

In a post on Instagram, Rio wrote: "It won’t ever be enough but I just want to say thanks, a really big thank you.

"The ability you had to make me feel loved at every moment in my life without even having to say it or be there by my side will never be forgotten."

He added: "You were fiery, you were protective, you was soft & hard faced when need be… you loved hard, you disciplined me, you were a grafter & you were my everything."

Ferdinand said all he ever wanted was to make his mother proud and described her as a "fighter with a huge heart" and his "shining light".

He signed off the post with: "Love you mummy. Rio x"

It is the first social media post the 38-year-old has made since she died on Tuesday, and has received thousands of comments of support and more than 140,000 likes.

One user, benijacq, wrote: God bless you and yours Rio, she helped shape who you are. No wonder she was proud, a great dad to your kids and a loyal and loving son. What more could a mum want xxx."

The former England footballer lost his wife Rebecca to breast cancer in 2015 when she was just 34.

Ferdinand opened up about his grief in a documentary earlier this year entitled Being Mum and Dad, where he talked about the difficulties of trying to support his children after the loss of their mother.

(c) Sky News 2017: Rio Ferdinand’s Instagram tribute to ‘shining light’ mum who died from cancer