EP09 From Loss To Hope: Navigating Grief As A Covid Widow And Mother Of Three

What does life look like when love is intertwined with loss and grief?

Melissa Gallagher shares how her world was turned upside down in 2020, when soon after learning she was pregnant with their third child, her previously healthy husband James was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with cancer at the age of 39.

In the months that followed her young family faced unimaginable adversity trying to navigate pregnancy, cancer treatment and raising young boys in the middle of the pandemic.

Although James fought bravely, he succumbed to his illness on his 40th birthday in July 2021 leaving Melissa and 3 young sons completely devastated.

Over two years on Melissa has gone from wanting to only survive for her boys, to slowly learning to love life again, even if it doesn’t look how she thought it would.

She has worked through her early grief whilst dealing with the demands of a newborn baby and recently qualified as a life coach.

She is currently undertaking further studies, in the hope that she can somehow take her experience and help others by showing them what she has finally started to see is true, the pain remains but only because love does too, and that laughter really does return.

In this interview, we explore:

• Melissa's personal journey of coping with the loss of her husband, James, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The emotional rollercoaster of Dealing with cancer and pregnancy during the Covid restrictions.
• Coping with early grief with a newborn baby.
• The challenges of raising children who are learning how to grieve the loss of their father.

Resources:

Join my Free Facebook Group ‘Widowed and Rising’ https://www.facebook.com/groups/widowedandrising

My website https://www.karensutton.co.uk/