Boxing legend Chris Eubank and his family have opened up about the anguish of losing son, Sebastian Eubank, a year on after tragedy struck. The 29-year-old died from an undiagnosed heart condition while on holiday leaving behind his wife, Salma Abdelati, and son, Raheem, who was just 32 days old when he passed.
Just over a year after his death, Chris and Salma have shared cherished family pictures, with the Sunday People, reports the Mirror. To mark the anniversary of Seb’s death, Salma travelled to Hove, East Sussex, where he was raised, to launch The Sebastian Eubank Charitable Foundation among his family and friends.
Former middle and super-middleweight world champion Chris, 55, said: “I can’t tell you how proud I am of this man. He was my son and I loved him. Every moment we spent together was my favourite but there were so, so many moments I missed when we weren’t together.”
After Seb’s death, Salma discovered videos on his mobile phone of him and his son. She said: “When I found Seb’s phone, I found that he had made a video every single day for Raheem, which is now a treasure trove for him, to say, ‘Look how much he loved you’.
“He talked to him, saying, ‘Look how hairy you are, you’ve got your mum’s cheeks, but you’ve got my nose’. It was all captured on video when I was sleeping – he’d do that during his night shifts. I only saw them after he passed. It was so beautiful and I’m so relieved I’ve got those.”
Seb’s death are still too painful for Salma and Chris to talk about in detail, but she said it looked as if he suffered a cardiac arrest on a beach in Dubai on July 7 last year, falling into shallow water and drowning. She said: “He loved the sun and loved to watch it set and rise and meditate. I couldn’t believe what had happened.”
The couple met in Abu Dhabi in 2018 and tied the knot a year later, before travelling to bless their marriage in Mecca. Salma, who is Sudanese but grew up in Britain, said: “I knew he was right. We started dating straight away. Within the first 10 days he said, ‘You’re going to be the mother of my children – I’ve been manifesting you, I know you’re the one’.”
Salma became pregnant and said: “We were both delighted. Seb took it in his stride. He was very strict on nutrition and wanted the baby to have the best health.”
Raheem was born on June 5 last year three weeks early and she will cherish those weeks they spent together asa family. She said: “He was born three weeks early – just in time for Seb to have those weeks with him.
“Raheem helped all of us – his name means mercy, compassion. Whenever Seb’s family sees Raheem they just want to hold him because he reminds them of him, they call him Seb Junior.”
Since then, she’s struggled to cope with losing Seb, with her father also dying eight weeks later. “I felt so guilty he died before me because I’m older and he was so healthy,” she said.
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