The wife of former Maori All Blacks player Sean Wainui has posted a heartbreaking tribute to the footy star, as she celebrates her son’s 7th birthday.
Wainui was killed in a freak car accident in 2021, after having represented the Maori side in 10 matches.
He left behind his partner Paige Fox, the couple’s son Kawariki, who has now turned seven, and his stepdaughter named Arahia.
The youngster shares his birthday with the Maori New Year celebration, called Matariki.
Fox has now posted a heartbreaking update on her life situation, opening up about how difficult celebrating birthdays have become without her man.
‘As my babies get older, I find myself thinking less about my own grief and more about theirs,’ she wrote on TikTok.
Sean Wainiu (pictured with Paige Fox) passed away after a car accident in 2021
Wainui and Fox (pictured) married each other in September 2020
The couple’s son Kawariki (pictured) has now celebrated his seventh birthday – his fifth one without his father alive
The rugby star’s death rocked the footy world (pictured, Sean Wainui)
‘I won’t lie. Birthdays have become the hardest. Not becos we don’t celebrate them we do. If anything I give them everything…’ Fox continued.
‘But if I’m honest … Sometimes I wonder if I’m trying to outrun the sadness.
‘If somehow the perfect birthday could soften the absence of their dads who should be standing beside them.’
Fox has also revealed a heartbreaking thought she experienced as her wider family celebrated her little boy’s birthday.
‘This birthday I caught Kawariki staring into a blank space while we sung him happy birthday,’ she wrote.
‘I couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking, seeing or feeling in this moment.
‘A look I’ve seen before on the rugby field, playgrounds & first day of school.. a piece of him that will always long for someone who should still be here.
‘As a mum, that’s the weight I carry. & it’s not something I can fix.’
Wainui passed away just five days before his 26th birthday back in 2021.
The car he was driving crashed into a tree at McLaren Falls Park near Tauranga in New Zealand, with the case being treated as a suspected suicide.
He played 109 matches of professional rugby, which includes stints at the Chiefs and Crusaders.
