TV star Dr Alex opens up on family heartache
FORMER Love Island contestant Dr Alex George has opened up about dealing with grief and working though the coronavirus pandemic after the sudden death of his younger brother.
The A&E doctor, from Carmarthenshire, has bravely spoken out about coming to terms with his loss in a year which has also seen him work 18-hour days for weeks on end balancing his role as a frontline medic with his role as a public health figure.
On July 24 Alex shared news of his 19-year-old brother’s death in a heartbreaking post on social media. Llyr, a talented student who was about to start medical school, took his own life after a struggle with mental health.
Now Alex has spoken about his determination to help others with their mental and physical health to try to prevent other families from going through the pain that his family have endured over the past six months.
The 30-year-old said: “It’s an up and down journey. I think what is interesting is that my life feels a bit like before and after – there is this big line of separation.
“My memories feel very distant but I think that’s part of a trauma like this. Grief is an ongoing thing.
“Especially with the pandemic, work, and obviously I’m living alone, it’s not helping unfortunately. Saying you’re allowed to bubble with other people is one thing, but the reality is you don’t see people very much.
“But I’ve been able to see my family and I have a really good set of friends, so we are getting through it. It’s just about taking each day as it comes and trying to do something positive. I bury myself in my work quite a lot which is both a good and bad thing but it does help me in scenarios with things like this.”
In the weeks and months after his brother’s death Alex has not shied away from talking about a situation that to many people is simply unimaginable.
Speaking to Lorraine Kelly in September, the former reality star described how he had been in a restaurant with friends in London when his dad phoned him with the news. In the emotional interview he went on to talk about how he and his brother Elliott had to drive together back to Wales – sitting in silence, crying and shouting in anguish during the unthinkable five-hour journey.
Despite everything, what Alex is determined to do is pay tribute to a younger brother who he describes as a “mini me” – a conscientious, empathetic and confident teenager and talented footballer who would have doubtless made a “very good doctor”.
Alex said: “It is hard. At the moment [Llyr’s] name is associated with a certain thing and suicide and it’s very very hard to separate that, but we do our best. I’ve got pictures and stuff of him and we do try and laugh about certain things. I saw a meme and I just thought: ‘He’d laugh at that’ – you have got to think about those things.
“I think it’s important to be open. I would never want to shy away from what’s happened. With suicide there’s no shame in it. It’s the same as if someone has a heart attack – it’s a very sad, preventable cause of death of course but it’s not something I would ever be ashamed of. It’s happened, we have to try and do something positive.
“It’s hard enough to deal with it anyway, but quite frankly in the public eye it’s tough – but also the amount of support I’ve had is unbelievable. There is no doubt, really, people have been so kind – I think social media gets a bad rep sometimes, even the media in general, but people have been very kind and supportive and that’s helped me a lot.”
When it comes to keeping busy it would be difficult to over-emphasise how hard Dr Alex has worked this year. Working in the A&E department of University Hospital Lewisham in south London, he and his team have seen first-hand how hard the area has been hit by Covid-19.
That’s at the same time as the content Alex has been sharing with his combined two million followers on Instagram and Youtube talking about everything from vaccines to health and well-being advice.
In May 2021 he will also celebrate the release of his first book Live Well Every Day – a book addressing the modern health challenges we face and how little changes to our routines can make a big difference. According to Alex, using the principles and advice in his book has helped him deal with his hardest days, from his time as a medical student to the monumental challenges he is now facing.