Hunt on for 5 cats killer
A SPATE of pet poisonings is being investigated by the RSPCA.
Five cats died in Whitland and Lampeter Velfrey in Pembrokes, south Wales, earlier this month.
Three of the pets belonged to the same woman.
KATHERINE Jenkins still cries over her late dad 23 years after losing him.
The singer was 15 when beloved Selwyn died.
In an emotional interview she said: “If I could send one message to my dad it would be that I hope he’s happy and I hope he can see some of this and he’s sharing it with me because I’m doing it for him.
“I still get upset around the time he passed away or on his birthday and my birthday. I still find that really hard. I still cry about it.”
Selwyn died aged 70 after a battle with lung cancer.
Katherine, 38, said: “We were told he had quite a few months to live. In fact he got ill very quickly and it was only about two months from diagnosis until he passed away.
“When my dad passed away everything changed. Suddenly it was just my mum and younger sister.
“We were all dealing with our grief in a different way. When you’re a child you don’t understand grief, you can’t consider how other people are dealing with their grief.
“I couldn’t understand my mum’s grief. My mum was grieving her best friend and her lover and I was grieving the death of my father. And they’re two completely different things.
“I felt so many different emotions towards my family. I felt anger towards my mum. I don’t even really know why, but I did. Maybe I was angry at her because she was the one that was left.”
Katherine’s world was turned upside down when her dad died. But therapy sessions provided vital support. She said: “I was able to see a counsellor I could talk to away from the grief within my family and I found that to be so helpful.
“It was amazing to be able to talk to somebody completely disconnected. I could rant and rave and I could cry and it didn’t upset anything at home. “I remember being in a session with a counsellor and being very upset and she asked me if she could do anything to make this better, what would I want her to do. I just said ‘I want my dad back’.” Enduring grief at such a young age has made Katherine determined to help others.
She is a patron for Grief Encounter – a charity helping children who have lost a parent.
For Children’s Grief Awareness Week, which launched on Thursday, the soprano recorded a track with Grief Encounter’s Children’s Choir.
In a message of hope to those who have lost someone, she added: “I know that it seems really hard and it is. And friends won’t understand because they haven’t lost a parent. But it does get easier. You can go on and have amazing things happen in your life and things will change.”
Get support at griefencounter.org.uk.
DAILY STAR SUNDAY SAYS – PAGE 6