Tying the knot with childhood sweetheart, Melanie, in June 2013 after nine years together, the much-loved Arsenal and England star was then overjoyed to learn his beautiful wife was expecting a baby.
However, soon after the early arrival of their baby son Finley James in April 2014, Theo and Melanie were devastated to learn that their little boy was suffering from a congenital heart defect,
25-year-old Melanie, a physiotherapist, has now opened up about her and Theo's experience of their son's diagnosis and subsequent surgery during a candid interview with the Irish Mirror.
With admirable poise, the mum-of-one recalled the moment her and Theo were dealt the devastating blow that their son's apparent heart murmer was something much more sinister.
Explaining the procedures which took place in order to ascertain her little boy's condition, Melanie said: "They kept on doing tests to make sure his condition wasn’t changing, but fortunately nothing critical was happening. The doctors diagnosed that Finley had pulmonary valve stenosis, a congenital heart defect."
Melanie says she drew on her own professional understanding of the human anatomy in order to console her husband, recalling; "Theo and I were terrified, although my physio background helped – I know how the heart works."
Upon learning that their son would undergo a heart operation in order to repair the damaged valve, Melanie and her husband attempted to suspend their worry and focus solely on their little boy.
Drawing strength from each other, Melanie remembers: "They told us what would happen, which was difficult to hear. It was scary as the last thing you want is your baby to be in discomfort. But everything that was happening was important for Finley, so we just focused on that."
Despite her positive attitude, Melanie recalls the time Finley spent in the theatre as heartwrenching, explaining: "It was the hardest two-and-a- half hours. Being away from him for that long and knowing what he was going through was horrible and I don’t know how we got through it."
According to his doting mum, Finley came round quickly after his surgery and has suffered no ill effects from the operation.
Paying tribute to her little boy, Melanie insists: "Finley’s fine now, and although he’ll have regular checkups until he’s 16, hopefully that’s that."
Thankfully, 14-month-old Finley is now happily exploring the world around him and may even follow in his father's footsteps, with Melanie revealing: "He’ll pick a beach ball up, drop it, and on the bounce, kick it. It’s incredible. He just did it naturally without Theo showing him what to do!"
Melanie is currently encouraging people to raise funds for Children's Air Ambulance and intends to do a 22-mile walk in September for the charity.
What an incredibly strong family they are.
