Keith Barry has opened up about how he coped with the unsolved murder of his grandfather.
The magician’s grandfather Paddy Barry, 82, was found injured in his house following an attempted burglary in September 2009 and died later in hospital.
No one was ever caught for the fatal attack at his Waterford home.
Reflecting on the brutal incident, and other difficult times in his life, Keith went on LinkedIn to share his coping mechanisms with the hope of being able to help others.
The 44-year-old mentalist said: “My grandfather was murdered. In Sept 2009 my grandad, Paddy, was sitting at home watching TV with his door locked and alarm on.”
“A number of burglars broke down his front door, assaulted him, and he died from his injuries just a few days later. No one was ever caught for the crime and most likely no one ever will.”
The father-of-two went on: “A year later our daughter, Breanna, was born with erb’s palsy – her arm was completely paralysed.
“We were told there was a good chance it was permanent. For 3 long months her arm did not move but luckily all these years later she has made a full recovery,” he said.
“Why do I feel the need to share this now?” Keith went on, “Because my crap is no different than yours, and yours is no different than mine.”
“I am not looking for empathy at all or any sympathy,” he added.
Keith said he wanted to share these stories in the hope of helping others to take strength in the fact that ‘even in our most difficult moments there is always hope’.
Reflecting on how he coped with the difficulties, the mind magician said: “In both of these moments I immediately did two things: 1. Acceptance – I accepted that my grandad had passed away and I accepted that our daughter had an injured arm.
“I then took all actions necessary to get justice for my grandad (I ultimately failed), and to heal our daughter (which thankfully worked).”
“Acceptance was key to allowing me to take those actions and is what most resilient people do when they face difficult moments.”
The hypnotist and TV star also told how he learned to ‘magnify the positive’.
“I magnified the fact that my grandad had lived a wonderful, healthy life until that moment. I magnified my memories of him which I will cherish forever.
“I magnified the fact that our daughter was alive.”
“These 2 thought processes are my immediate ‘go-to’s’ when faced with unexpected difficult situations.
"We all have difficult moments from time to time. Remember to accept, magnify and then take massive action.
“Sending positive vibes to all,” he said before signing off the post ‘(A very content and happy) KB’.
