Fernando Ricksen’s brother Pedro reveals Rangers legend urged him ‘you must visit’ before he died as they healed family rift

EMOTIONAL Pedro Ricksen told of his "relief" at healing his troubled relationship with brother Fernando before the Rangers legend’s heartbreaking death.

Pedro, 39, admitted clashing with his "stubborn" older sibling and said they wouldn’t speak to each other for months at a time.

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But the footie coach revealed they managed to mend their rift and he even flew in from Holland for a surprise hospice visit before Fernando lost his six-year battle with Motor Neurone Disease last month aged just 43.

Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Pedro said: "Me and Fernando had our ups and downs. We would fight but when we went to high school and he was 17 we got a bit closer.

"We were both football players and I always looked up to him when he went to AZ Alkmaar and Rangers.

"But over the years he was very stubborn and because you’re brothers you sometimes fight. He had struggles with his ex-wife Graciela and that’s when he wanted to be by himself.

"We would go for months without speaking to each other at times but towards the end we always had respect for each other.

"It was a relief we became good friends before he died. I’m relieved I went to see him before the end.

"I kept meaning to go but it kept getting pushed off. He texted me in the summer saying ‘You must come’ so I knew I needed to.

"I’m not sure if that’s because he knew he was dying.

"But he didn’t know I was coming. I called the hospice and said ‘Don’t say anything to my brother’.

"I could see when I went inside it was very emotional for him. I saw tears in his eyes."

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Fernando and Pedro grew up in the Dutch city of Heerlen and were close as teens and in their early 20s.

Ex-pro Pedro even stayed with Fernando during his brother’s trophy-laden stint at Ibrox as he had trials with Hearts and Partick Thistle.

He previously told how he felt Fernando was “ashamed” of him and their mum Anneke, 64, as he became a huge star at Gers.

After patching up their differences, Pedro was consumed by despair at seeing the incurable muscle-wasting condition up close, and his brother’s use of a Stephen Hawking-style voicebox to communicate.

And he even told his wife Angelique, 42, that he couldn’t face more visits to St Andrew’s Hospice, Airdrie, because it was too shattering.

Pedro added: "It was very tough seeing him like that towards the end. His body wasn’t how it used to be.

"Conversation was difficult with him because you’re not used to waiting ten seconds to respond.

"It was much slower and he was lying in his bed. I went there for five days. I’d go every morning to speak to him.

"In the afternoon I had the privilege to go to the Rangers Academy to shadow their coaches.

"In the evening I’d go back to Fernando. It was tough seeing him lie there doing nothing. He was so helpless but I couldn’t help him.

"He needed so much work from those great nurses. To see him not able to use his arms, and struggle with his eyes, was tough.

"I called my wife to say it’s hard to see my brother like that.

"He always said every morning ‘I’m happy that you’re here’. After it I said to my wife I couldn’t go there again. It would be too hard."

Pedro told how he toured Fernando’s favourite Scots haunts, including Ibrox, with Anneke, Angelique, their son Dean, eight, and stepmum Mia Faas before his funeral.

They were pictured among footie shirts, scarves and flowers at the ex-Gers skipper’s Ibrox shrine.

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The family also visited Fernando’s old flat in the city’s Finnieston, another in nearby Newton Mearns and shopping centre Royal Exchange Square where they used to meet for food. Pedro then went on to be a pallbearer at last month’s funeral, along with his brother’s former Bears team-mates Nacho Novo, Michael Mols and Thomas Buffel.

Pedro, who hugged Fernando amid emotional scenes following a benefit game in 2014 at the Dutch ace’s first club Fortuna Sittard, said it had been the hardest time of his life.

And he paid tribute to the thousands of fans who lined the streets as Fernando’s funeral cortege made a final journey past Ibrox.

He said: "The last few weeks have been very tough — he was my brother. It’s been a rollercoaster.

"The funeral and his death were the hardest days of my life. The whole day moved me to tears.

"It was beautiful to see the support he got. I knew that he was a big player in Glasgow but I didn’t know he was so big. I knew there would be a lot of people at Ibrox on the day of the funeral but the actual amount was unbelievable.

"Ibrox was very beautiful to see. It was incredible to see the streets so full. Even workers were standing to still to pay their respects.

"That was very emotional. You don’t see that in Holland. It showed to me how big it was here."

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He added: "It’s been emotional for me and my mum.

"It’s tough not having a brother at this age but probably 100 times tougher for my mum having to bury her son before her."

We told how 2003 Treble winner Fernando passed away on September 18.

Grieving wife Veronika, 33, wept as she paid tribute to her “soulmate” at his funeral service in Hillhead, Glasgow. The couple had lived with daughter Isabella, seven, in Valencia, Spain.

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