Former Welsh rugby captain Gareth Thomas has been honoured with the Mirror Pride of Sports Award, recognising his work in pushing for greater acceptance and diversity in the sporting world.
Accepting the award from event host Ben Shephard, the rugby legend, who recently revealed he was living with HIV, admitted that he was feeling emotional about the occasion.
"I'm being celebrated for something that six months ago was something that [made me want] to die because I felt that nobody would accept me," he told the crowd.
“To to be celebrated is a difficult thing to try and take. But what I’ve realised… is that the story transcended HIV."
He added: “We’re all people and we all have weaknesses and we all have vulnerabilities and people want to prey on them. But what I realise, as athletes the one thing we know is how to fight and how to come out.
“Having a vulnerability and having a weakness doesn’t make me weak and there was a point where I thought it made me weak.”
After Thomas addressed the crowd, a surprise video message from Sir Elton John played, with the music legend praising the sportsman for being “a beacon of hope for so many people.”
Shephard then revealed that there were two very special people waiting to present Thomas with his award - his parents, Barry and Yvonne. Thomas was quickly overcome with emotion at the sight, tearfully embracing his mum and dad on stage.
Watch the touching moment for yourself below:
Thomas made headlines a year ago when revealed that he had been the victim of a homophobic assault in his home town of Cardiff, Wales. Then, in September of this year, Thomas shared that he has been living with HIV for "years".
"I've felt shame and keeping such a big secret has taken its toll."
"I was in a dark place, feeling suicidal. I thought about driving off a cliff.
"To me, wanting to die was just a natural thought and felt like the easier way out, but you have to confront things."
