Bobbie Thomas has shared insight into the medical complications that led to her husband's death last week at age 42.
The TODAY style contributor released a statement Monday about the tragic loss of her husband, Michael Marion, who had struggled with health issues after suffering an ischemic stroke in April 2019 at 40 years old.
"Michael worked hard to recover from his stroke and had made such progress that he was making plans to return to work," Thomas said. "He landed in the hospital due to problems involving several organ systems, separate from his stroke of 18 months ago, and unrelated to Covid-19."
Following his stroke, Marion came home from the hospital in a wheelchair but had worked to eventually be able to walk again with assistance.
Thomas also spoke about the special bond they shared in their seven-year marriage and 12 total years together.
"He brought so much compassion, patience, understanding and stability to my life, and taught me more about love than I could ever put to words," she said in her statement. "He was sensitive and silly, yet so stoic, and brave beyond my comprehension.
"I will be forever grateful for the time I had with him. He was so worth it. I only wish people could have been more intimately aware of how worth it he was and why I would do it all again and again without a second thought. He was a rare, devoted force of unconditional love in my life who made me feel so loved, so beautiful, and unequivocally supported."
He was also with Thomas every step of the way as they publicly shared their journey to conceive their now-5-year-old son, Miles, through IVF.
"Every well-wish you sent our way when we got married, he beamed at," Thomas said. "Every positive message you offered during our IVF struggle, he took encouragement from. Every note of support that came his way during his recent medical struggles, gave him strength."
Thomas also shared a heartbreaking message on Instagram Sunday alongside photos of Marion and herself in the hospital.
“Nothing is normal,” she wrote in the caption. “Maybe nothing will ever be normal again. For me, it won’t. My husband is gone. With all the fear, anger, and division going on in the world right now, it’s so easy to get upset about the lack of normalcy. But I beg you, everyone reading this, hold onto what you do have right now instead of focusing on what you don’t.”