Mum opens her heart on TV show
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A MOTHER with incurable breast cancer cried on TV about the moment doctors delivered the devastating news her eight-year-old son would not survive his own battle with the disease.
Susan Hey told Channel 4’s Stand Up To Cancer show she had just finished radiotherapy when scans revealed Hamish had a highly-aggressive brain tumour.
Starring in a three-minute film, which was screened as part of Friday night’s special full-length fundraising programme, the 40-year-old former art teacher choked back tears when she recalled doctors telling her "there is nothing more that can be done for Hamish".
She said: "He asked me if he was going to die. I just held him and said ‘I’m here beside you, holding onto you, keeping you safe’.
"I never answered his question."
Also appearing in the film was Hamish’s 12-year-old sister Lily.
Recalling being by her brother’s side when he died at home in Nairn on February 20 last year, Lily said: "I remember holding his hand when he passed away. It was very, very sad."
Sam Hey, an architect, also features in the short film.
Struggling to come to terms with his wife’s diagnosis which came as a double-blow last year, he said: "I cannot believe it is happening again. Cancer has ripped our lives apart."
Speaking after appearing on the show, Mrs Hey described the experience as "an emotional roller coaster", with many highs "but many lows as well".
But she said the family was heartened to have played a part in helping the show to net 1.3 million viewers and raise more than £24 million for research. A handful of celebrities were filmed on Gogglebox watching the Hey family’s film.
Model Abbey Clancey held her football star husband Peter Crouch’s hand and sobbed.
