Hooked up to machines and looking gaunt, the 38-year-old was filmed speaking about the devastating impact of his partner’s death on himself and their sons.
“Recently, myself and my five boys, we’ve just lost my wife, they’ve lost a mother and I’ve also lost a best friend as well,” he said, lying in his hospice bed.
He added: “It’s been difficult for the boys, it’s been difficult for myself. “I cannot lie it has been the most toughest thing that a husband and a father’s ever had to face or deal with but it’s only been easier with support and help from friends.”
Omena also thanked kind-hearted members of the public for their support, with thousands of pounds having been raised on a GoFundMe page to support his family.
“Thank you sooo much to everybody, thank you so much for the prayers, your thoughts, even the times that you tried to make me laugh, the gifts,” he said. “Thank you so much. And do you know what? I want to say thank you for the financial donations on the GoFundMe account as well. Words can’t explain… everything.”
The moving footage was filmed on August 16 – less than three weeks before Omena died.
The father had battled Stage 4 bowel cancer for three years before he passed away in the early hours of this morning. His wife, Makeda, had died from the same condition in late July.
The couple’s five sons have now been orphaned. Friends close to the family say they are too devastated to speak, but tributes have emerged online.