Ireland AM discusses coping with bereavement with Hayley due to pass away on Coronation Street tonig

TV3 GROUP RELEASE                                                                               

IMMEDIATE: Monday 20th January, 2014.

 

Ireland AM discusses coping with bereavement with Hayley due to pass away on Coronation Street tonight.

 

Coping with bereavement is being discussed widely due to Hayley’s controversial ‘right to die’ storyline on Coronation Street in which she is to pass away tonight.

 

Ireland AM’s Mark Cagney and Sinead Desmond speak to Bereavement Counsellor Allison Keating and widower Michael Nugent about learning to tackle the emotional devastation.

 

To watch the full interview, click here: http://www.tv3.ie/3player/show/184/74913/1/Ireland-AM

 

Ireland AM airs Monday to Friday on TV3 from 7am – 10.45am on TV3.

 

Hayley’s final episodes will air tonight Monday 20th January at 7.30pm & 8.30pm and Wednesday 22nd January at 7.30pm on TV3.

 

Ireland AM’s Mark Cagney and Sinead Desmond were joined this morning by Bereavement Counsellor Allison Keating and widower Michael Nugent to discuss coping with the emotional devastation of losing someone you love.

 

Michael Nugent lost his wife Anne in 2011 and with the Coronation Street’s ‘right to die’ storyline bringing issues of bereavement to the forefront; he believes that having the choice to end your suffering is enough to bring peace to someone who is terminally ill. Although Michael’s wife passed away naturally, he said that Hayley’s storyline drew similarities to that of his wife.

 

“Anne had decided that she was going to make preparations to take her own life if she needed to, to avoid suffering. Now as would most people who make those decisions, and unlike the storyline in Coronation Street, most people who make preparations to take their own life in those circumstances end up dying naturally anyway because it’s not actually about the act of dying, it’s about the peace of mind you have knowing that you have the option to avoid the suffering. From the moment that Anne took that decision and we’d made preparations to do that if necessary, her quality absolutely soared from then on.”

 

Bereavement Counsellor Allison Keating explained that once someone you love has passed away; there is no particular amount of time in which you should learn to accept it.

 

“There is a concept out there I think of how long your grief should last and I think there is no time limit. When we look at stages, people talk about the fifth stage of acceptance, I’m not sure everyone gets there because if it was a tragic accident and someone was taken instantly, and it was child, I’m not sure everyone gets there. It’s not a gift that everyone will receive so I think compassion is the only place you can go to, to actually recognise that.”

 

Allison also said that it is important to embrace what you are feeling, even if it is anger.

 

“I would encourage people to be angry because I think people try to quell it and if they see people getting too angry [they think] they’re not coping and no they are actually, they’re just expressing their fury at what has happened so I think anger is incredibly important but to acknowledge it and to go through it.”

 

Michael found that speaking to someone who had been through a similar experience helped him to cope.

 

“I was fortunate with Anne, in that we had that time to sort of pre-cope with it in a way but one thing that I did find very useful, was talking to people who had been through the same experience. While you can talk to people who can tell you in an intellectual way, or even an emotional way, who can tell you how they think you should cope, it’s talking to someone who has been through the same thing that actually helps most.”

 

Allison encouraged people who have suffered from a loss to look after themselves physically and emotionally as sometimes the effect can be too much.

 

“I do think people can die of heartbreak. Say a couple is older, sometimes you do see that one partner goes and the other one goes a year later. I truly know and I have spoken to doctors who say, you can die of heartbreak. Physically it’s incredibly difficult and actually that’s part of the grieving process that people find difficult, to look after yourself. Take those meals in, do lie there. I’m not saying you’re going to sleep. Try as much as possible to eat. Even at the beginning, maybe even if it isn’t a major shock, talk to your GP because sometimes I think it can be utterly overwhelming.

 

“In terms of bereavement counselling, you have to get there before you can talk to anyone. The process of grief is that it is a process and people talk about [how] grief is a natural process, well so is a tornado. I think it’s that destructive and when you’re in the midst of it, you have to actually go through it and that’s really, really hard. That is what’s hard about grief.”

 

For a list of counselling services and helplines please visit http://www.tv3.ie/helplines.php

 

Ireland AM airs Monday to Friday on TV3 from 7am – 10.45am on TV3.

 

Hayley’s final episodes will air tonight Monday 20th January at 7.30pm & 8.30pm and Wednesday 22nd January at 7.30pm on TV3.

 

Images have been sent to your picture desks

 

ENDS

 

For further information
Jean O’Donovan

Press & Publicity Assistant

01 419 3428

 

Sharon McHugh
Head of Press & Publicity

087 922 4143

publicity@tv3.ie                        
www.tv3.ie

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