BBC Wimbledon presenter Annabel Croft has opened up about her ongoing struggle with grief and a distressing medical encounter during the final days of her late husband, Mel Coleman.
Coleman, a former round-the-world yachtsman and banker, died from sepsis in May 2023, just 16 weeks after being diagnosed with colon cancer.
The tumor perforated during a flight to Portugal.
Croft, who returned to BBC punditry for Wimbledon 2026, revealed she still experiences traumatic flashbacks about a nurse's behavior at the hospital.
The former tennis champion expressed deep distress over how one healthcare professional treated her family, including her children Amber, Charlie, and Lily, as they gathered to say goodbye.
"I've asked myself, since, if she was a psychopath," Croft told MailOnline.
The presenter explained that the nurse appeared to take pleasure in delivering terminal news directly to her husband despite requests for a private conversation first.
"It felt like it because she seemed to take pleasure in telling Mel he was dying," Croft said.
Croft recalled attempting to shield her husband from blunt medical updates, but her efforts were rejected.
"When she started to talk like that, I said: 'Can you please come over here and talk to me privately first.
I don't want him to hear this.' But she said: 'No, he is the patient.
He has to hear that he is dying,'" Croft recounted.
The situation escalated when Croft's son asked about the remaining time for his father's life.
"She started talking about palliative care and Charlie asked her: 'What does that mean? Does he have months, weeks?'"
Croft stated.
According to Croft, the nurse responded with a mocking demeanor.
"She said: 'Huh!' Almost laughing, mocking our son.
'No - hours.' Mel heard that, all of it.
It was just awful," Croft told MailOnline.
Furthermore, the nurse unilaterally declared a do-not-resuscitate status, opposing Coleman's explicitly stated wishes.
"She said: 'Oh, and by the way, if he has a heart attack, we are not resuscitating him,'" Croft disclosed.
The memory of that interaction continues to cause sleepless nights.
"This nurse said: 'Listen to me. He's got cancer.
We are not resuscitating him.' Like she was enjoying it.
I'm haunted by that. So many nights it has kept me awake, remembering the tone of her voice.
It was cruel," Croft told MailOnline.
Grief and Coping
Reflecting on the illness to The Observer, Croft admitted the family had been naive about the severity, noting Coleman had a high pain threshold and chose to forgo chemotherapy.
"I just feel like he's still there," Croft said.
Croft added that she continues to speak to her late husband's photograph next to her bed every night.
"Every day I say, 'I cannot believe you're not here'. I said it to him last night, to the picture next to my bed.
It's just so bizarre. How can somebody just evaporate?"
Croft told The Observer.
The presenter also described heartbreaking final instructions her husband gave as he drifted out of consciousness.
"During his final hours, as he drifted in and out of consciousness, he started listing instructions like, 'Change the tyre on the van' and then saying to the children, 'Sorry I can't be there for your weddings,'" Croft told Fabulous magazine.
Croft explained that the realization of his permanent absence makes the emotional pain feel heavier over time.
"That memory breaks my heart.
After Mel died, it didn't feel real, but as though he was away on a trip and would reappear.
Weirdly, the pain of grief feels like it's growing, rather than easing, because of the realisation that he's not coming back," Croft said.
Speaking to The Times, Croft confirmed she is not open to entering a new relationship or going on dinner dates.
"I've had people asking for dinner dates. I'm, like, 'You have no idea!'"
Croft told The Times.
She explained that the thought of dating makes her uncomfortable and that she prefers to focus on staying present.
"I'm not anywhere close to that. It gives me the heebies to think about it.
It's never say never, but I wouldn't mind if it was never. Still, I don't want to feel doom and gloom for the rest of my life.
Mel would have wanted me to be happy. I try to live in the moment, to stay as present as you possibly can.
It's the only way to be - like a sportsman," Croft told The Times.
Appearing on the Style DNA podcast, Croft admitted sleeping with her husband's treatment scarf by her pillow and expressed regret over not giving him more compliments during their marriage.
"So I have his scarf that he was wearing for all the treatments and everything, and it sort of smells of him.
So I go to bed and wear, not wear his clothes, I sleep with his scarf by my pillow," Croft stated.
Croft noted that despite her personal opinion on the garment, it remains incredibly special to her.
"And he just wore it, that scarf, I didn't really like it if I'm honest. It's an awful scarf, but he absolutely loved it," Croft said.
In addition to navigating personal grief, Croft previously detailed facing severe online trolling during a 2021 Eurosport broadcast.
"I'm just deeply shocked by the viciousness that is out there on social media," Croft confessed on Eurosport.
She described a frightening incident on the platform X that caused her genuine distress.
"Recently I had somebody who made me feel physically sick and shake inside from what they were saying," Croft disclosed.
The presenter added that the hostility had escalated to visual threats on her feed.
"I've never met them, but the viciousness. And actually, someone put a death skull across a tweet about me the other day," Croft disclosed.
