Ashley Cain hits back at trolls in angry post after ex Safiyya Vorajee said he 'brutally' dumped her and revealed her 'heartbreak' that he's set to be a father again
Ashley Cain has hit back at trolls in an angry post in the wake of criticism over how he allegedly treated his ex.
His former partner Safiyya Vorajee this week claimed he dumped her in a 'quick and brutal' way following the death of their baby daughter Azaylia, before asking her for another child. After the split she found out he was expecting a baby with another woman.
Television personality Ashley, 33, and his ex partner Safiyya, 36, tragically lost their little girl in April 2021 when she was eight months old after she battled a rare form of cancer.
Hitting back at trolls Ashley wrote on his Story on Wednesday night: 'Just because I don't speak, doesn't mean I can't speak, just means I choose not to.
'Protection of the things and people I love that are in, have been or will be in my life will always come above and beyond anything else.
Ashley Cain has hit back at trolls in an angry post in the wake of criticism over how he allegedly treated his ex
His former partner Safiyya Vorajee this week claimed he dumped her in a 'quick and brutal' way following the death of their baby daughter Azaylia, before asking her for another child
'No matter how many stones get thrown, or how hard they hurt, I will always stand on that.'
Ashley also shared a message from a fan who defended him in the wake of criticism.
The message read: 'All these judgmental, horrible, got nothing better to do except put down a grieving father because he has moved on need to get a frigging life... just because you don't see him crying or being sad does not mean he is okay.
'He has lost a child to.. the comments on his post are disgusting and you should be ashamed of yourself for judging a man that takes all his strength just to be alive. Take it from another grieving parent.'
Earlier this week Safiyya said both she and former Ex On The Beach star Ashley struggled with their grief and he later moved out of their home in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, with Safiyya telling The Sun on Sunday: 'He'd had a drink, it was quick and brutal. He said he couldn't do it any more.'
Former footballer Ashley and Safiyya raised more than £1.5million to fund Azaylia's specialist treatment before her death and later put any unspent money into The Azaylia Foundation which aims to support families and provide memorable experiences for children fighting cancer.
Safiyya said The Challenge star Ashley turned to drink and fundraising and she put his needs first but craved love and attention from him.
Ashley moved in with his aunt and Safiyya later did the same despite splitting, with the pair having separate rooms in the same house.
Hitting back at trolls Ashley wrote on his Story on Wednesday night: 'Just because I don't speak, doesn't mean I can't speak, just means I choose not to'
Former footballer Ashley and Safiyya raised more than £1.5million to fund Azaylia's specialist treatment before her death
Azaylia was diagnosed with with acute myeloid leukemia and had tumors on her lungs, stomach and kidneys
She said she had always got on well with his family and, having known him for so long, saw his loved ones as her own family.
Safiyya claims Ashley then suggested having another baby but she was unsure as she did not want her child to think they'd been born to fill the 'void' left by their let firstborn Azaylia.
In June this year, Safiyya moved out of Ashley's aunt's home and bought her own property, thinking some space between her and her ex would do them good.
They continued to work on the foundation they'd set up in Azaylia's name, talking about it every day, and she waited in the hope he would ask her to get back together with him.
But Ashley told her he was having a baby with another woman, although he was not in a relationship with her.
She said: 'He didn't tell me who she was and, again, I would not ask.'
Breaking down in tears, she added: 'That's the heartbreaking thing about it. Even when he told me, I put him first so he didn't feel guilty for telling me. Inside I was screaming and crying.'
Safiyya sought help from a therapist in a bid to process her feelings and decided to visit Azaylia's garden to tell her about what was happening in her life.
However, after she arrived, she could not bring herself to say out loud that Ashley was having a child with someone else.
Ashley claims Safiyya has now congratulated him following the news he is to become a father again.
The former sportsman, who appeared on ITV's The Real Full Monty: Jingle Balls this week, has said he is having a baby boy with someone he has known since the age of 18.
He told The Sun on Sunday: 'Safiyya and I have shared an intense emotional journey together since losing Azaylia.
'When there are intense emotions involved, be that from loss, breakups or my recent baby announcement, recollection of events may vary.
'What has never varied is our mutual commitment to our daughter's foundation, which has never been stronger.'
However, Safiyya said: 'How can I congratulate him when I'm in so much pain?
'Knowing my child has a sibling that isn't related to me has shattered my dreams of a future with a full sibling, of that family.
'I feel embarrassed. I am speaking out because I need to stop sugar-coating stuff that's painful to me. I am devastated.
'Because he hasn't named this woman I've had thousands and thousands of messages with people thinking it is me, congratulating me.'
Ashley announced earlier this month he is set to become a father for the second time - two years after the death of his baby girl Azalyia.
Ashley went to his daughter's grave to give her the news after feeling that he needed to tell her in order to feel good about his new baby.
He told The Sun: 'After going to her resting place and speaking to her about it, I just had a feeling in my heart and in my soul that she was happy for me.
'She was happy that she had a little brother and it is now just someone else for her to watch over and protect in this world.'
Ashley had been preparing for the Yukon 1000, the world's toughest survival endurance race from Canada, through the Arctic circle to Alaska, when he received a call in July from a friend who he was dating at the time, revealing she was pregnant.
While Ashley hasn't disclosed the identity of the baby's mother, he said they have been friends since they were 18 and have met up on and off over the years.
Opening up about how he felt after he received the news he confessed he found it difficult to process, but believes every child is a blessing.
Of finding out that he is expecting a boy, he said: 'In the back of my head I didn't really know how to deal or cope with it if it was a little girl. It could have been fine but it could have been heartbreaking all over again and I wasn't sure.'
Ashley said that Azalyia would have loved a a little brother and he is looking forward to becoming a father again.
But Ashley's strength was tested again when the couple discovered at the 20-week scan that their baby has a potential heart defect.
He explained that the doctors couldn't find the connection between one of the valves and the heart which naturally scared the star.
Although he is worried over his son's health after his tough journey with Azaylia, he said he will go for a scan as soon as he is born to double check his health.
Safiyya Vorajee broke down in tears as she revealed she nearly took her own life after her eight-month-old daughter Azaylia died.
The aesthetic practitioner, 36, who is Ashley Cain's ex-girlfriend, hit rock bottom when Azaylia lost her battle to acute myeloid leukaemia in 2021.
It comes after Safiyya described her daughter's death as like 'jumping off a cliff with nothing to hold on to', with her grief causing her to sink into such a deep depression, leaving her contemplating suicide.
In a frank interview on the Saving Grace podcast, Safiyya told host GK Barry she fought hard to not succumb to a 'why me' mindset after Azaylia passed away.
'I really tried not to do that. And that's because I felt so [suicidal] after I lost Azaylia that I thought if I start sitting in 'Why me, why's this, why's this?'... that's why I had to execute my pain and turn my pain into purpose', Safiyya said.
'It was going to go two ways. I was either going to take my own life or I needed to execute it into purpose and make changes in the pain I've endured. And that's what I do.'
Safiyya said the first night in hospital with Azaylia, who was only two-months-old at the time, was terrifying as they waited for her diagnosis - initially thinking she just had an infection after noticing she had mottling on her stomach.
They were told she had acute myeloid leukaemia, a rare form of blood cancer.
'It didn't register leukaemia was cancer. I was crying, I knew something was happening. I had a maternal instinct.'
Safiyya said they were told Azaylia needed to be admitted to Birmingham's Children Hospital, with 10 doctors already swarmed around her tiny cot.
'I'm putting my fingers into her hand while this was all going on. The next minute we are catapulted into a hospital for six full months,' she said.
She was given several rounds of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant at Birmingham Children's Hospital but sadly died on April 24, 2021
'It felt like a nightmare. I thought I'd actually passed away. I felt I'd passed away and I was going to wake up.
'All I was doing was being a mum to Azaylia to her the whole time. And then I became a nurse further down the line.'
After Azaylia's death, the couple set up The Azaylia Foundation in her memory.
Ashley and Safiyya later announced their split last year, a year after Azaylia's death.
For help, call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org.
A timeline of Azaylia's six-month leukaemia battle
October 2020: Ashley emotionally revealed his daughter had been diagnosed with a 'rare and aggressive' form of leukaemia, which he described as an 'uphill battle'.
Heartbreaking: Ashley emotionally revealed his daughter had been diagnosed with a 'rare and aggressive' form of leukaemia in October
Azaylia was turned away by doctors three times and prescribed laxatives and a nasal spray when her breathing was impeded, shortly before her diagnosis.
By the end of the month, the brave child faced her second surgery and 16th chemotherapy-related treatment in less than two weeks.
November 2020: Azaylia's hair started to fall out just weeks after she was diagnosed.
Doctors informed Ashley and his family that the tot needed a bone marrow transplant and blood donation.
Due to her Caribbean, Burmese, Indian and English background, the footballer said it was very difficult to find a match for a transplant.
Azaylia was brought home for a few days before her second round of chemotherapy.
December 2020: 80,000 people became stem cell donors 48 hours after Ashley appealed for the public's help.
So sad: Azaylia's hair started to fall out just weeks after she was diagnosed in November
January 2021: The TV star confirmed a stem cell donor had been found for his baby daughter Azaylia.
She received her stem cell transplant but her cancer sadly returned following a third round of chemotherapy.
February 2021: Azaylia responded well to her stem cell treatment and doctors were impressed with 'how strong she was'.
She underwent further surgery to discover whether her leukaemia had gone. Later in the month, doctors revealed her cancer had returned.
March 2021: They were told there were 'very few options' to help the baby's condition before she had another bone marrow test. She relapsed by the end of the month and underwent her fourth round of chemotherapy.
Ashley surpassed his target goal of £1million after he set up a GoFundMe to pay for life-saving treatment for his daughter Azaylia.
Heartbreaking: Healthcare professionals revealed Azaylia only had a few days to live as they discovered tumours all over her body
The former Ex On The Beach star took to social media to ask fans for help in donating, explaining the treatment his daughter needed is available in Singapore.
Ashley described the treatment, CAR-T therapy, as 'the only option to save Azaylia's life' and said he and partner Safiyya may have to fly out in a matter of weeks, adding it will take a minimum of one year.
Celebrities such as former TOWIE star Kate Ferdinand, Love Island's Molly-Mae Hague and PrettyLittleThing founder Umar Kamani all donated.
Despite efforts from around the world, pharmaceutical companies could not release the life-saving drugs needed to beat his daughter Azaylia's battle.
April 2021: Healthcare professionals revealed Azaylia only had a few days to live as they discovered tumours in her stomach, her spleen, her liver and her kidneys, in addition to tumours in her brain.
Her parents bathed her in the hospital for a final time before they returned home.
They marked her turning eight months old by having moulds made of her feet, and Azaylia was met with support from the London Underground and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.
She received life-prolonging transfusion after her condition caused profuse bleeding and public figures joined the nationwide clap held in her honour.
Azaylia was nominated for a Pride of Britain award and had a plane draw a heart in the sky for her.
The tot was put on oxygen to aid her sleep, and struggled to open her eyes due to swelling.
Scam artists set up fake Facebook pages in her name, with Ashley admitting: 'We feel really sad it has come to this'.
Azaylia returned to hospital for another platelet transfusion a few days before she died.
The influencer's 'fragile' daughter stopped breathing and suffered seizures before Ashley confirmed her death.
