‘I don’t want other families to have to go through the heartache we’ve had’
Children’s entertainer Jade Foster-Jerrett,
38, lives in Romford, Essex, with her husband Dean, 45, who works for the council, and their children, Jacob, 15, and Matthew, eight. She says, “I lost my dad, Larry, to the virus in April. I was devastated but I still don’t feel like I’ve really started my grieving process. In lockdown, it feels as though the whole world has stopped, and once it lifts the world will carry on – only without him – which scares me. I don’t want to go back to ‘normal’ because it’ll make my dad’s death even harder to accept. He was a DJ and music quiz host in our local pub and the thought of going in and him not being there is horrendous. We were very close; I’d talk to him every day, see him once a week, and we had regular family get-togethers.
“During lockdown, I haven’t missed him so acutely because life isn’t ‘normal’. I can kid myself that I can’t see him because no one is seeing anyone really. But once normality resumes, it will be painfully apparent that he’s not where he should be. We will also have to organise a memorial for him, which will make it feel more final that he’s gone, and I am dreading it.
“His death made coronavirus very real and I’m anxious now. I’m only too aware of how dangerous the virus is; Dad was 65 and in good health. I think it’s too early to open up at the moment, I want to wait until cases are much lower – I don’t want other families going through the heartache that we have.”