Brenda Edwards paid a poignant tribute to her son Jamal Edwards on the one-year anniversary of his death, while Jamal’s close friend Ed Sheeran told followers he’s ‘drowning myself in rum’.
Jamal died of a heart attack in his Acton home on February 20, 2022, at the age of 31.
Brenda, 53, shared a clip on Monday that included film from a photoshoot as well as photographs of her late son.
‘Self Belief is my baby Jamal’s Mantra, this post is dedicated to my baby it’s been 1 year and yet it still feels like yesterday,’ the Loose Women actress wrote with the video.
‘I thank you for continuing to inspire me daily and for helping me to get my dreams together… this has been nearly two years in the making #SelfBelief #JamalEdwards #inspiration #rockwithit #comeon.’
Meanwhile, Ed, 32, shared a photo of himself and Jamal with his 42.2million Instagram followers captioned: ‘Can’t believe it’s been a year. Miss you every day, currently drowning myself in rum listening to tunes you loved.’
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Brenda, Jamal’s doting mother, acknowledged last month that she has “no strict arrangements” for his anniversary.
Brenda, who is currently working on a campaign with Virgin Media O2 and the British Heart Foundation to roll out defibrillators across the UK and enhance CPR training, said, ‘The legacy has been continuing on ever since Jamal went away.
‘So, with the Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust, we are launching an apprenticeship programme with Centre Point where we give young person an opportunity to have an apprenticeship within the digital media industry as well as accredited learning courses as well.’
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Chatting to Metro.co.uk, Brenda continued: ‘I don’t think there will ever be a celebration, but I will be upholding Jamal’s legacy as long as I’ve got breath to do so.
‘I haven’t made any plans as such. I’m sure a lot of his friends will come around and see me so I’m kind of just leaving it a bit loose so that we can just do whatever we want to do, and not put too many strict plans on anything really.
‘But he’s never out of my mind and I’m never not thinking which is one of the other reasons why I’m really glad and honoured to be a part of this campaign because Jamal was all about giving back and helping others.
‘So that’s really what I want to just focus on is helping and giving back and trying to help others wherever I can. However I can.’
She added that Jamal ‘would be all over’ the campaign, saying ‘he would totally be for this’.