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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Jessica Sansome

Brenda Edwards fights tears on ITV Good Morning Britain as she discusses Ed Sheeran's support after son's death

Brenda Edwards was left fighting back tears on Good Morning Britain as she appeared on the programme to talk about her support for a new campaign. Ahead of talking about an incident which has triggered her to support Virgin Media O2's roll out defibrillators to stores across the UK, she spoke about her son.

Jamal Edwards died suddenly last February, aged 31, of a cardiac arrhythmia caused by recreational drugs. There was an outpouring of shock at the news of the loss of the SB.TV founder who helped launched the careers of Ed Sheeran and Jessie J, and Brenda and her daughter have since been surrounded by support and launched a trust in Jamal's name.

And Brenda has now revealed how she was overcome with emotion after hearing Ed Sheeran's new tribute to her late son after a teaser dropped on SB.TV on Wednesday (January 18) before its full release on Thursday (January 19). Appearing on GMB, a clip of Ed's new track was played.

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The dad-of-two penned his own freestyle to kick F64 off, and in a new clip, could be seen standing on an empty stage while performing the verse, which was dedicated to Jamal. But returning to the studio, an emotional Brenda was unable to watch and fought back tears as she spoke to hosts Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard.

"Ed sent me the final edit two days ago and I’ve been in and out of crying ever since," Loose Women star Brenda said. "I say happy tears, they’re positive tears. It just means so much," she added.

"Going back to Ed, when Jamal passed, he was at my house with me and [daughter]Tanisha for the whole week, just looking after us. There wasn’t anything he wasn’t sorting out and doing. Everybody has been so so wonderful and so supportive. I just can’t put it into words the gratitude me and Tanisha feel."

Brenda in the GMB studio (ITV)

Brenda then went on to talk about the campaign she is supporting. More than 200 defibrillators are now available in Virgin Media 02 owned stores across the UK in partnership with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Virgin Media O2 is in the process of registering them on BHF’s National Defibrillator Network, The Circuit, meaning 999 call handlers will be able to quickly direct people to nearby stores in an emergency.

Brenda shared how she wanted to show her backing after her brother collapsed when walking home from work in 2018 and was 'dead for 20 minutes'. She also shared how her brother, who made a recovery, was on hand to help her when Jamal collapsed at home.

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