England hero Terry Butcher broke down in tears on Good Morning Britain as he remembered his late son but told Ed Balls and Susanna Reid he "didn't want to talk" about him in the first place08:59, 01 Jun 2026Terry Butcher broke down in tears on Good Morning Britain as he remembered his late son. Former British Army Captain Christopher Butcher died in after a battle with severe PTSD in the wake of leaving the army in 2017 at the age of just 35, and football manager Terry, 67, appeared on Monday morning's edition of the ITV breakfast show alongside hosts Ed Balls and Susanna Reid.‌The sports star, who became the first patron Combat2Coffee, a non-profit social enterprise for veterans, arrived on the sofa to promote his ITV4 documentary Invisible Wounds but became very emotional when an image of his late son popped up on screen.‌He said: "We suffered acutely, and I didn't want to talk about Chris. I find it cathartic, a little bit, talking about him now. When I see him on the screen now, I have him a big lump in my throat and I've got to get over it. I'm still not out of it, you'll never be out of it."‌It was then that Susanna noticed Terry's tie and asked him about it, but this only drove him to tears as he explained that he tries to wear it as often as he can."It's a Royal Artillery tie. It wasn't Chris's but we have a coffee shop near the HQ and Chris was taught there, I went along and I was presented...excuse me, I'm a bit emotional," he continued. "I was presented with the tie and I wear that as much as I can. Thanks for making me cry."‌Susanna rushed in to apologise, and Terry simply said: "It's okay. No problem ... He was a bit of a devil, I'm a devil too! We were so much like each other. He's a special boy and his memory will always be there, hopefully his memory now will . I find it tough."An inquest found that Christopher died of an abnormal enlargement of the heart combined with the effect of drugs against a background of PTSD. The coroner ruled the 35-year-old "became a victim of war" after tours of Iraq and Afghanistan.‌England hero Terry, who is also has sons Edward and Alistair with wife Rita, recently sat down for a candid interview with The Mirror, where he explained that for a long time, he struggled to show his emotions.He said: "When I go up to bed in the evening, Chris’s room is on the left and our room is on the right. I always stop at the top of the stairs and say good night to him, just give him a wink and all that sort of thing, because that was the room where he passed away."Whenever we go to the grave - he’s got like a military grave with an artillery crest on there - we sort of hug the stone and always say, ‘See you at home, son.’ It’s really tough, but it’s just part of our life now, and how we go about it.‌"I was feted as this so-called hard man. You just didn’t cry. But I think you have to. I think it’s compulsory. It’s part of the process." He remembers breaking down in tears once on a train out of the blue. “Grief does creep up on you, but it’s a bit more easy now than it was before, and I can talk about him a lot more. When someone says, ‘How many children did you have?’ I normally say three sons"And then if they ask what they’re all doing now, then you have to come clean and say one passed away. And then that conversation stops, because they don’t know what to say.”What has helped Terry most since Christopher's death is Combat2Coffee, the veterans organisation he now works closely with, and which provides invaluable mental health support for those in the armed forces.Article continues belowHe said: "I couldn’t say it’s helped save my life, because I was never at that stage, but it certainly helped me. “What it has done is give me a mission. All through my career as a footballer there were missions. Survive relegation, win titles, be strong, go to Europe, international matches... the full range. That was my mission then…this is now."Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.