The Grief Pod

Michelle Cullen lost her husband John in 2015, when he was just 52, following a short battle with pancreatic cancer. Her brother, David died aged 10, two days before her ninth birthday.

In this episode of The Grief Pod, Michelle talks about sibling loss, and how our attitudes to grief have changed over the years, how Johns death prompted a 360 career change and how 11 years on she’s navigated her grief

The Cornucopia Story, A Tale of Love and Loss, Hope and Healing, is written by Deirdre O’Mara McCafferty, who founded the Dublin institution with her late husband Neil, 40 years ago.

After three month battle, Neil lost his life to pancreatic cancer, in 1993, aged just 40. In this episode of The Grief Pod, Deirdre talks about her and Neil’s incredible love story against a difficult backdrop, her letter to her two young daughters after Neil died, which was the foundation of the book, running the business while navigating her grief, and her ‘happy ever after’ with her new husband Richard.

Actress Leigh Arnold, lost her baby son Flynn when he was less than a month old. On this episode of The Grief Pod, Leigh talks about how she coped with this unimaginable tragedy, while trying to stay present for her toddler son, who shares the same birthday as Flynn, how she struggled with the absence of her baby while life continued around her, and her heartbreak at the death of her brother, Nicky a few years later.

Mike McGrath-Bryan, is a Journalist and Author of ‘Have I Got Your Attention? A Guide to Adult ADHD in Ireland. In this episode of The Grief Pod, Mike discusses how he felt being diagnosed at 33, and how now he reflects on his childhood experiences, feelings of rejection sensitivity and whether living so much of his life feeling ‘different’ has led to a sense of Ambiguous Loss.

Journalist and Author of the best selling novel ‘Esther is now following you’, Tanya Sweeney, lost her Mum Gabrielle to cancer 15 years ago. In this episode of The Grief Pod, Tanya talks about how her grief has surged since having her own daughter, her Mums last weeks in the hospice and her final hours, and the strange, and surprising path grief can often bring you down.