'My footballer husband died a year ago - now I'm pregnant with his baby'

EXCLUSIVE: 'My footballer husband died a year ago - now I'm pregnant with his baby'On the anniversary of footballer Joe Thompson’s death, his widow has revealed that she is 26 weeks pregnant and carrying her late husband’s baby via a frozen embryo and IVFNewsHannah Britt, Senior Reporter Mirror Features18:38, 16 Apr 2026Updated 18:38, 16 Apr 2026View 6 ImagesChantelle Thompson with her late husband Joe Thompson, who passed away from cancer a year ago(Image: Ian Hodgsonn/ANL/REX/Shutterstock)The widow of Rochdale mid-fielder Joe Thompson is marking the first anniversary of his death tomorrow with the news that she is 26 weeks pregnant with his baby, after IVF using a frozen embryo. Chantelle Thompson, 36, is sure she is expecting a boy, following a vision Joe had before he died of her holding a baby. Speaking about his “vision,” she tells The Mirror: “Six months before Joe passed, he saw me in our garden throwing a baby boy up in the air. He said, ‘Chan I’ve seen it. He was a boy’. We'd previously lost a baby boy in 2021 and then gone on to have our daughter Athena afterwards. He said, ‘I've seen him - he's here. There's nothing to worry about. He's going to be here. He gave me his name.’”‌READ MORE: 'I was told I have terminal breast cancer after having baby but still feel lucky'Joe, who was 36 when he died from Hodgkin’s lymphoma - a type of blood cancer - was Chantelle’s teenage sweetheart. They married in 2016 - hoping for “a house full” of children. Diagnosed with cancer in 2013 and again in 2017, he recovered twice, before it returned in April 2024, spreading to his lungs. Influencer and beauty brand founder Chantelle, who is now bringing up their children Lula, 12, and Athena, three, with the help of her mum, who has moved into their renovated Manchester farmhouse, says: “When Joe was here, we'd always discussed [the fact] we wanted to have more children. If it hadn't been for Joe's cancer diagno...