Ted Beckham (pic:famous)
David Beckham's dad was working all hours to make ends meet in the weeks before his near-fatal heart attack.
Gas fitter Ted, who was taken to hospital on Wednesday night, had started doing extra evening shifts to pay his bills.
The father-of-three told friends he was struggling for money. He also confided about his loneliness following David and the family's recent move to Los Angeles.
He said he spends most nights at home and survives on microwave meals.
Ted, 59, said: "I don't get a penny from anyone - I earn my own living. I'm a proud man and I have bills to pay like anyone else. I am working more now, and I am also turning out in the evenings to get some extra cash.
"The last thing I want to do is upset David, so I don't like to say anything. He's busy with his life and that's fine. People always think because of who my son is I should be living in a bigger house and not be working but I don't ask for anything from anyone."
He told a friend he rarely receives gifts from his multimillionaire son, but he did accept a £20,000 Jaguar three years ago.
"Everyone's got to make a living and I'm no different," he added. "I'm getting older, though, and it's harder to put in the hours."
A friend said: "Ted's on his own the whole time. He gets back from work and just pops something in the microwave to eat."
Ted, who's recovering from heart surgery at the London Chest Hospital, fell out with his son in 2005 after he wrote the book David Beckham: My Son without his son's permission.
In recent months they have been trying to rebuild their relationship, but Ted has remained on the fringes of the Beckhams' circle of friends.
A friend said: "Ted is quite old-fashioned in his ways. He thinks of David as a footballer and the thought of his son as a style icon makes him cringe.
"And he believes Victoria doesn't like him. He thinks he doesn't fit into her ideal image and it's just easier if he stays away.
"Ted feels that it is all about her parents and since his divorce from David's mother Sandra he feels even more pushed out."
Those who know Ted, who lives in a terraced house in Chingford, Essex, where David grew up have noticed his health has deteriorated.
He has a history of the chest condition angina and has already suffered a mini heart attack.
A pal said: "Ted used to coach some of the smaller local boys' teams in his spare time but now, as he's started working evenings, he doesn't really have time."
They have also noticed Ted becoming increasingly withdrawn. One said: "Nowadays Ted's too scared to speak to anyone in case he upsets David.
"He's so proud of his son and all his achievements and desperately wants to be back in his life.
"He was the one who taught David how to play football. He was the one who pushed his son to get to where he's got. He was and still is his number one fan. But that's what he feels like now - a fan. Rather than a father. He rarely sees his son. The first he hears about things is in the papers."
On Wednesday David, 32, flew back from Los Angeles to be at his father's hospital bed. He was joined by his sisters Joanne, 25, and Lynne, 35. Victoria flew in from Japan the next day. But recently Ted and his son have been rebuilding their relationship and he flew to Los Angeles to see David in July. Ted, who divorced David's mum in 2001, has not been part of the Beckhams' circle of trust for several years.
In contrast, Victoria's parents Jackie and Tony are on the Beckhams' payroll and are a constant part of the lives of David, Victoria and their young children Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz.
But a friend said: "Ted never complains or slags off Victoria. He is aware of the way her parents get treated differently to him but he'd never say anything."
A friend of David's said: "David does support his father and has paid off his mortgage. There have been disagreements in the past but they have been reconciled for a long time. Ted was at the last game in Madrid and the Chelsea game in LA."
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