The husband of BBC presenter Rachael Bland, who died last year after a battle with breast cancer, has shared how he and his son coped on their first Mother’s Day without her.
Mrs Bland, 40, passed away on 5 September 2018, two years after being diagnosed with incurable triple-negative breast cancer, 11 days before her son Freddie’s third birthday.
The BBC Radio presenter was widely celebrated for her award-winning podcast You, Me And The Big C, in which she and her co-hosts Deborah James and Lauren Mahon discussed their own intimate experiences of cancer.
She dedicated her last months to writing a memoir dedicated to her son, entitled ‘For Freddie’.
You, Me and the Big C presenters Rachael Bland, Lauren Mahon and Deborah James (BBC)
“She was magic as a mum,” husband Steve Bland, 38, said in an interview with The Sun Online yesterday.
“She had endless patience, sitting on the floor with him for hours on end, making things with glue and glitter and cardboard, getting all the paints out and making a mess.
Mr Bland explained that although seven months have passed since her death, Freddie continues to ask “almost every day” where “mummy is and if she’s coming back."
“I try to give him simple, honest answers – but he’s too young to understand what death is, or what heaven means, so I worry he doesn’t get the finality of it all. He thinks Rachael has gone to a place called died.”
The grieving husband said that while it was hard for Freddie, now three-and-a-half, to fully grasp the situation, he had been a rock to his dad.
“The other day, when he saw I was upset, he came over to me, gave me a big cuddle, and said: ‘Daddy, we’re best friends, aren’t we?’ I welled up with pride,” said Mr Bland.
Freddie’s proud father said that he and his son would spend Mother’s Day by celebrating Rachael “with all the wonderful mums in our world: my mum, Judy; Rachael’s mum, Gayna; and my sister, Claire, who has three brilliant children, Freddie’s cousins, whom he adores.
“Freddie and I are very lucky to have all these people in our lives, and a close, supportive family who’ll make sure we never feel alone.”
