SEE YOU IN HEAVEN

Jennie Ludford, 47, is determined to keep her son’s memory alive

- JOHANNA BELL, AMANDA CHALMERS

Sitting in the cafe opposite a woman I’d never met before, I stared down at my cup of coffee and untouched pastry. It was August 2019 and I’d not had much of an appetite for weeks. In fact, looking after myself had been so far down on my priorities. I’d just about managed to brush my hair and disguise the bags under my eyes with a bit of concealer for this meeting. The truth was, life at that moment felt surreal – like one big terrifying blur. And the woman sat in front of me, Rachel Ollerenshaw, then 49, knew exactly how I felt because she had been where I was – living every mother’s worst nightmare. As she spoke softly to me, telling me about her daughter Molly who had died from kidney cancer eight years before, I couldn’t stop thinking about my son Charles, 12, and how I wouldn’t be able to live without him when this cruel disease took him, too.

FINDING A FRIEND

‘How are you still able to smile when Molly isn’t here?’ I asked Rachel through tears.

‘Molly wanted me to be happy and help other children like her,’ Rachel said. She had set up a charity in Molly’s name, to help other children with life-threatening illnesses. A friend had put me in touch with her, and even though I’d only just met her, she was already an inspiration to me.

Charles had been a happy, healthy 12-year-old when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour in June 2019. We’d been back and forth to the doctor over three weeks about pain in his arm, dizziness and sickness. Then, when he woke in the middle of the night unable to walk properly, my husband Jim, then 47, and I called an ambulance.