Today on what would have been Josh’s 30th birthday, I find myself reflecting on the bittersweet tapestry of our lives. I reflect on the profound impact his life—and more importantly his death—has had on me, his family and our communities. Today is not just a remembrance of his birth, it is a celebration of his…
My beautiful son Josh was killed 8 years ago today in the early hours of the morning. As I write this post I am feeling every emotion that I felt back then. Shock, denial, fear, anger, sadness and the desperate desire to hold him in my arms as he lay alone. No one should ever…
Happy 29th Birthday Josh I would have been celebrating Josh’s 29th birthday with him today if his life had not been taken from him in an unprovoked, brutal, and violent knife attack. I would have been looking forward to ordering his birthday cake (Oreo was his favourite) and booking our usual table at our favourite…
She woke up to a Mother’s worst nightmare to be told her precious, funny, kind and caring 21-year-old son had been stabbed. Shortly thereafter she was told that he had died from his injury by suffocating on his blood as he fought hard to stay alive. The horror, disbelief and pleading with God and the…
Hello everyone, I am delighted to share that Josh’s 6th Memorial Football Tournament which took place on Saturday 8th October at Watford FC was a huge success. Our hosts and our team of volunteers worked tirelessly on the day ensuring that the day ran smoothly, and I am delighted to share a few photos and…
Over the past seven years I have been asked to talk to children in schools, young people in colleges, and academics and professionals about knife crime prevention, bereavement and resilience, victim care, trauma, and trauma recovery. It is not easy to talk about what happened to Josh and the impact it has had on my…
I know self-care is important for our well-being but having said that I am not good at it. Self-care means sitting with my grief which I avoid. My complicated grief and trauma are easier to manage when I work as many hours that I can physically fit in. If I am busy and not alone…
I have lived my life without Josh my beautiful, funny, caring and loving son for 6 years. My heart aches for what might have been every single day. Josh’s life was taken from him in a barbaric act that took no longer than 6 seconds. Six seconds? How do I make sense of what happened…
This week I have shared some of my experiences of the Criminal Justice System (CJS) with the BBC as a secondary victim of Josh’s murder, or the term I would prefer to use as a ‘co-victim’. I was asked to share my experiences to help shed a light on the inhumane way in which I…
The last time I spring cleaned my house was the early part of 2015 it was around May before I was due to have a big operation in June. I remember getting as much as I could organised before I went in to hospital so that when I came home there would be very little…