Leeds United great Gary Speed's widow finds love again after losing second husband to cancer
Louise Speed, the widow of Welsh football icon Gary Speed, has found love again with businessman Andrew Dickens. The 53 year old endured immense heartache after her husband's passing in 2011 and faced more sorrow when her second husband, Quinton Bird, succumbed to brain cancer just six months post their 2021 wedding.
But now, Louise is beaming with joy alongside Dickens, aged 45. Sharing a touch of fate with The Mail, the property magnate revealed, "Funnily enough we are from the same small village in North Wales and only lived a few hundred yards from each other. It was only in recent years that we became good friends."
A relative has verified that the couple have set up home together in Wrexham, and they're presently soaking up the sun on a holiday in the South of France.
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Louise, who's partnered with Dickens in business too, was left bereft by Gary Speed's death in 2011, having been his partner since they were teenagers, reports Wales Online.
Her quest for happiness led her to Bird, and they wed at a grand castle in Cheshire in November 2021. Heartbreak struck again as he died from a vicious brain tumour, as noted by the Mirror.
Louise, who turned to her feathered friend for comfort after the heart-wrenching loss of Gary, the former Leeds United and Newcastle icon, opened up in an emotional interview in 2021 about the ordeal following his demise. She laid bare her feelings: "There were no answers and no Gary walking through the door again," and went on to convey the depth of her despair, stating: "Nothing was ever going to be right again. I was trudging through life, just functioning. If I could have been anybody else apart from me, for a long time, I would have happily taken it."
As she looked back over the decade since the tragedy, she noted: "But we are 10 years on now. It's a cliche but time is a healer even if it takes years. I have learned that life can be good again, can be great again."
Speaking of the profound changes within herself, she expressed: "I don't think you move on from something like this as the same person. I have become wiser. I am probably more confident than I was."
She also revealed her defense strategy, admitting: "I tend to wear a body of armour around me the whole time, if I am honest - so that I cannot be hurt again. I don't know if that body of armour has developed over time or whether I deliberately put it on at some point. All I know is that it is there now and it wasn't 10 years ago."
Wrapping up her thoughts, Louise highlighted her instinct for self-preservation, saying: "I just want to protect myself from life. I don't want to feel or go through anything like that ever again. I hope that makes sense."