Sol Bamba's wife, Chloe, has released an emotional statement after the former Premier League defender's death at the age of just 39. Bamba was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2021 before announcing that he was cancer-free four months later.
Chloe Bamba has explained how the former Cardiff City, Leeds United, Middlesbrough and Leicester City player 'took a downturn' while working for Turkish club Adanaspor and passed away on Saturday.
"For the last few years I have watched Sol fight his cancer head on with an astounding mental and physical strength and stoicism," she wrote on Instagram.
Related articles
"Unfortunately, it was never a fair fight and just when things were looking up he took a downturn and finally succumbed on 31st August. These years have been indescribably difficult but we still managed to find joy and laughter in it.
"I’ve experienced my worst days but also some of my best. Sol accepted his fate as God’s will and left this earth knowing, without a shadow of a doubt, that he was loved wholeheartedly. I made sure of that.
"It was an honour to have loved and been loved by Sol. I learnt so much from him. He is my hero. My heart is breaking. What a gift, what a gift, what a gift to have been loved by him."
Bamba was born in France to Ivorian parents and rose through the ranks of Paris Saint-Germain's academy. His first taste of regular senior football came with Scottish clubs Dunfermline and Hibernian, before making a move to Leicester in 2011.
Aside from brief spells at Turkish side Trabzonspor and Italian outfit Palermo, Bamba would see out the rest of his career in English football with Leeds, Cardiff and Boro. The centre-back was a regular under manager Neil Warnock during Cardiff's Premier League season in 2018/19.
Related articles
Bamba, who also played 46 times for Ivory Coast, had been working as a sporting director for Adanaspor at the time of his death. Former Sky Sports anchor Jeff Stelling called the news 'devastating' and shared his own touching tribute on X.
"One of the nicest men I have ever met," Stelling wrote. "He was a big supporter of my prostate cancer walks and never had a smile far from his face. My heart goes out to family and friends."
