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Parenting

20th Feb 2017

“I still have four children” – Samantha Cameron speaks about the death of her six-year-old son

Amanda Cassidy

Ivan died in 2009 –  just before his seventh birthday.

He suffered from a rare and severe form of epilepsy and cerebral palsy. He needed 24 hour care with both his mum and dad taking turns sleeping in his room

Speaking to the Times, Samantha Cameron has opened up for the first time about losing her precious son who was also brother to Nancy, Arthur and Florence.

“For the whole time Ive was alive, you were always dealing with life or death situations, but it doesn’t prepare you for when you are actually faced with it. When it happens, it is still a huge shock. It overshadowed everything in my life”

(Image via the mirror) 

The 45-year-old wife of former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, said it isn’t easy to talk about their loss:

“It is one of the reasons I am quite private; I can’t talk about it, but I can’t not talk about it. I still have four children and I think about him the whole time. It’s all so complex – nothing is ever black and white. There were so many emotions and that’s why grief is so hard. We have pictures of him all round the house; we go to visit his grave very often”

And she says the other’s children reaction to their brother’s passing is bittersweet:

“Florence (now 6) talks about him the whole time as though she knows him, when she never met him.

It’s the biggest thing in my life.”

(Feature image via Getty)

Topics:

loss