I HAD TO LET HIM DIE WITH DIGNITY

Trudi Austin had to make the heartbreaking decision to turn off her husband's life support

- SARAH EWING

Bob was my soulmate – I knew we were destined to be together when we met in 1995. I was 23 and had moved to Penrith straight after university for a job in marketing. Bob was one of my customers and, even though he was 12 years older than me, we hit it off immediately because he had a magnetic, fun personality. We got married on 31 August 1997.

In 2006, after my parents died within six months of one another, we moved back to my childhood home in Preston. By then, we had two children – eight-year-old Jess and six-year-old Mikey. Bob worked tirelessly as we got stuck into renovating the house to make it our own. We had another new beginning as I found out I was pregnant again, with Maisie, who was born in 2007.

Bob and I were an amazing team. He was a stay-at-home dad to our three children, while I travelled the country as a marketing and sales manager. He loved taking care of the kids. Before our first was born, he jokingly said that as long as he could have Sky Sports, he’d be happy. He had a heart of gold and knew me inside out – he could always help me see the lighter side of things when I was under stress.