I'VE LEARNT TO LIVE WITH LOSS

THE grief is always there – every day brings memories of the unbearable loss she’s endured.

- PIETER VAN ZYL

First there was her young niece who died of cancer.

Then the unthinkable – her own daughter, who desperately hoped she’d keep her severe lung disease at bay long enough to see her 21st birthday, lost her battle before she could celebrate the milestone.

And now cancer has claimed the life of another loved one – this time her husband.

Gabi Lowe’s ultimately heartbreaking journey with her daughter, Jenna, has been well-documented.

Jenna was 17 in 2012 when she was told she had pulmonary hypertension and needed a lung transplant and her mom started a campaign that would captivate the country.

Jenna’s cousin, 13-year-old Natalie Cohen, had recently died from a rare type of spinal cancer and Jenna decided she was going to defy doctors’ grim predictions.

Her social media campaign, Get Me To 21, aimed to raise awareness about organ donation.

It seemed Jenna’s dream would come true when a suitable donor was found – but she died just four months before she would have turned 21.

And now, nearly ten years after Jenna’s death from complications following her double lung transplant, Gabi (60) is dealing with the pain of losing her 62-year-old husband, Stuart.

He died on 28 October, the day their daughter would have celebrated her 30th birthday.

Stuart, who worked in publishing and consumer research, revealed the news of his bone marrow cancer to Gabi six months after Jenna’s death in June 2015.

Although he’d known about it for three months, he kept it a secret because the family was struggling so desperately with Jenna’s illness.

“I was initially angry at him for that,” Gabi says.

“I could have been there for him too but he wanted to protect us. It was the highest form of love.”

Now Stuart is gone too and Gabi must spend the festive season with just her memories.