Gail O’Brien’s eyes glimmer with tears as she recalls the recent death of a dear friend’s husband. “It’s funny, you know,” she says softly, “I found his loss such an emotional thing. Then I thought, ‘Pull yourself together, Gail. You’ve done all this so many times before’.”
Sadly, this serene mother-of-three has indeed weathered more than anyone’s fair share of grief. First came the horribly premature death, from a malignant brain tumour, of her charismatic husband, worldrenowned cancer surgeon Professor Chris O’Brien. It was a public mourning, as fans of the reality TV series in which he appeared, RPA, and former patients all poured out their grief. Less than two years later, the family’s elder son, Adam, passed away at home, of a suspected epileptic seizure, aged just 29.
“He basically failed to do the simplest thing – breathe in his sleep,” Gail reveals. “I truly believe Adam died of a broken heart. Grief is such a powerful emotion.”
Then, in yet another cruel twist of fate, Gail and Chris’ daughter, Juliette, was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer.
“She got really
