Stolen Goodbyes: Recent Episodes
Karen Rice
Welcome to the award-winning Stolen Goodbyes with Karen Rice, foreign affairs journalist and podcaster.
Each week inspiring wives, husbands, partners, children and newly-weds intimately recount the shock and anguish of death to Covid 19 without warning or goodbye.
Forced to grieve in isolation, these people detail needless mistakes and decisions that cost lives including patients being placed on Covid hospital wards when they were Covid free or others condemned to an early death by the secret use of Do Not Resuscitate forms. Some were left to die alone, the ultimate social taboo.
This unique, global podcast is a social history record of the wide-spread suffering caused by the Corona virus pandemic of 2020, an infection that changed the world as we know it.
The participants of this podcast have bared their souls in a bid to stop their loved ones from being written off as just another statistic when they were much-loved individuals whose premature deaths could help to save others from the same fate while holding those responsible to account.
This Covid 19 podcast has helped participants and listeners to come to terms with a grief like no other.
Created, produced and hosted by Karen Rice, the Stolen Goodbyes podcast won gold in the fiercely competitive Best Lockdown category of the British Podcast Award 2021.
Stolen Goodbyes is described as: "outstanding ethical and trauma-informed journalism. Karen Rice manages to capture a historic event in real-time by listening with empathy. Future generations will listen to this podcast and know what it felt like to live through this pandemic." Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.
Follow Karen on Twitter @Ricekmc and Stolen Goodbyes on Instagram and Facebook.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
In this powerful interview, Danielle Barnett charts the life of her wonderfully resilient dad Chris Riley, who despite the most challenging and heartbreaking circumstances, worked six days a week to give his daughters a loving home and a happy, memorable childhood. Widowed without warning and with four daughters to raise under the age of eight, Chris kept the family together despite the best efforts of social services. But when the pandemic broke years later, being self-employed and with no help available from the government, this most beloved dad felt he had no choice but to return to work. His daughters pleaded with him not to go back: “What if you catch Covid and you die?” Losing her dad in such a ‘torturous’ way has scarred Danielle, leaving her battling complicated Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, whose effects are devastating. In this episode, Danielle celebrates her dad’s enormous legacy, a man with the kindest soul, who if you needed something, would be there in a heartbeat.Created, produced, and hosted by Karen Rice, the Stolen Goodbyes podcast won gold in the fiercely competitive Best Lockdown category of the British Podcast Award 2021.Stolen Goodbyes is described as: "outstanding ethical and trauma-informed journalism. Karen Rice manages to capture a historic event in real-time by listening with empathy. Future generations will listen to this podcast and know what it felt like to live through this pandemic." Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.Please listen to, review, and share this podcast with your network, it really helps!If you would like to make a donation (no matter how small) to the running costs of this passion project, please visit: https://karen-rice.com/podcast/ or http://bit.ly/3kMSKLgYou can follow Karen on Twitter @Ricekmc and Stolen Goodbyes on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3ITXSFC Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kGGwnG and Youtube: http://bit.ly/3Yq0jW5Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
If Boris Johnson had locked down earlier, Peter Owen would still be alive today, this is the firm belief of his daughter Becky. Instead, this beloved father and grandfather caught Covid 19 shopping in Sainsbury’s on March 19, three days before Johnson belatedly put the country into lockdown.
Becky vividly describes the void left behind by the death of her father, a proud Welshman from Aberystwyth who “always made time for people.”
Equally as powerful is her description of the surreality of his death and feelings of distorted grief because all the rituals that usually go with death were denied.
“I have nothing in my head to say that it’s really happened,” Becky explains. “I’ve gone from seeing my dad before lockdown to seeing a pot of ash, there was nothing in between. That’s a pretty abnormal thing
“There was no proof that he died. I have no idea where he died, what the hospital ward looked like that he was on, or the bed, I don’t know where he was cremated, I don’t know any of the circumstances around his death.” Heartbreakingly, the nature of his death meant: “I’ve no idea what his last words to me were meant to be.”
As with so many people in the Covid-19 bereaved community, Becky has only recently faced her loss and grief: “Coming out of lockdown was very difficult. I felt if I stayed in lockdown, he might somehow come back again and I wouldn’t be leaving him behind.”
Created, produced, and hosted by Karen Rice, the Stolen Goodbyes podcast won gold in the fiercely competitive Best Lockdown category of the British Podcast Award 2021.
Stolen Goodbyes is described as: "outstanding ethical and trauma-informed journalism. Karen Rice manages to capture a historic event in real-time by listening with empathy. Future generations will listen to this podcast and know what it felt like to live through this pandemic." Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.
Please listen to, review, and share this podcast with your network, it really helps!
If you would like to make a donation (no matter how small) to the running costs of this passion project, please visit: https://karen-rice.com/podcast/ or http://bit.ly/3kMSKLg
You can follow Karen on Twitter @Ricekmc and Stolen Goodbyes on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3ITXSFC Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kGGwnG and Youtube: http://bit.ly/3Yq0jW5
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In a beautiful and wide-ranging interview, Sam Levy brilliantly articulates how distorted grief is impacting her world three years after the love of her life Pete died in the blink of an eye. “His life ended and nothing happened,” Sam says. “I can say I’m a widow, but I don’t believe what I’m saying, it’s just a word. Knowing and understanding that he’s gone are two different things.”
Sam walks us through the colourful and fun life she shared with Pete, a larger-than-life, funny, grumpy, loveable, cider-loving character who sometimes liked to shock with his potty mouth.
Sam also explores the importance of voice recordings, legacy, and how: “It warms my soul to see him in my dreams.”
This is a must-listen episode for anyone who is experiencing Covid grief and for anyone who is interested in people and life stories.
Sam is the founder of the Covid Bereavement Support Group on Facebook.
Credit The Cure, Love Song.
Created, produced, and hosted by Karen Rice, the Stolen Goodbyes podcast won gold in the fiercely competitive Best Lockdown category of the British Podcast Award 2021.
Stolen Goodbyes is described as: "outstanding ethical and trauma-informed journalism. Karen Rice manages to capture a historic event in real-time by listening with empathy. Future generations will listen to this podcast and know what it felt like to live through this pandemic." Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.
Please listen to, review, and share this podcast with your network, it really helps!
If you would like to make a donation (no matter how small) to the running costs of this passion project, please visit: https://karen-rice.com/podcast/ or http://bit.ly/3kMSKLg
You can follow Karen on Twitter @Ricekmc and Stolen Goodbyes on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3ITXSFC Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kGGwnG and Youtube: http://bit.ly/3Yq0jW5
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
As a couple, Anne and David Morrison, 71, did everything together, living life their way, never letting obstacles stand in the way.
But their plans to retire to Australia were never realised after David was hospitalised with Covid 19 in early 2020. Worried sick about her husband, Anne, who had received the all-clear from cancer a year earlier, died at home from sudden death on April 7. On hearing he’d lost his lifelong partner, David died from a Covid-induced heart attack 10 hours later.
In this episode, their only son Paul Morrison bravely tells how he struggled to fill the void left behind by his parents, battling feelings of guilt, anxiety, and reliving torturous moments from the past.
In an inspiring story of redemption, Paul describes how he brought himself back from the brink, recovering from a year-long illness, quitting alcohol, and embracing exercise in order to: “find the new version of me…I am doing it for my parents…and I will get there.”
Credit Snow Patrol, Chasing Cars.
Created, produced, and hosted by Karen Rice, the Stolen Goodbyes podcast won gold in the fiercely competitive Best Lockdown category of the British Podcast Award 2021.
Stolen Goodbyes is described as: "outstanding ethical and trauma-informed journalism. Karen Rice manages to capture a historic event in real-time by listening with empathy. Future generations will listen to this podcast and know what it felt like to live through this pandemic." Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.
Please listen to, review, and share this podcast with your network, it really helps!
If you would like to make a donation (no matter how small) to the running costs of this passion project, please visit: https://karen-rice.com/podcast/ or http://bit.ly/3kMSKLg
You can follow Karen on Twitter @Ricekmc and Stolen Goodbyes on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3ITXSFC Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kGGwnG and Youtube: http://bit.ly/3Yq0jW5
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Treasured by her family, Anna Gibson may have been 94 but she was still a feisty, independent, and private personality who loved nothing more than being outdoors.
But after a fall, Anna was admitted to a care home where her daughter Ruth believes she was denied basic care when the Covid 19 pandemic broke out.
In a heartbreaking interview, Ruth explains how she has been left traumatised and haunted by her mother’s treatment and her own subsequent fight for the truth. Miscommunication meant Ruth missed out on seeing her mum in ‘window visits’ at the care home for four whole months. When there were Skype calls via a computer, Anna’s hearing aids weren’t fitted for the calls.
When Covid hit, Anna could only look longingly at the outside world. When the care home took food away from her, Anna was so upset that she refused all care, Ruth explains. And when Ruth got a call to quickly come and see her mum to say goodbye, Ruth later discovered her mum had already been dead for almost two hours when the care home called.
Today, more than two years later, Ruth says there is no transparency, no answers and so many inconsistencies she can’t get to the truth of what happened to a mother who ‘always had my back.’ But Ruth will continue to fight until she can piece together the complete picture of what happened to her mother in her final months when she believes she received no medical or palliative care or dignity in care.
Created, produced, and hosted by Karen Rice, the Stolen Goodbyes podcast won gold in the fiercely competitive Best Lockdown category of the British Podcast Award 2021.
Stolen Goodbyes is described as: "outstanding ethical and trauma-informed journalism. Karen Rice manages to capture a historic event in real-time by listening with empathy. Future generations will listen to this podcast and know what it felt like to live through this pandemic." Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.
Please listen to, review, and share this podcast with your network, it really helps!
If you would like to make a donation (no matter how small) to the running costs of this passion project, please visit: https://karen-rice.com/podcast/ or http://bit.ly/3kMSKLg
You can follow Karen on Twitter @Ricekmc and Stolen Goodbyes on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3ITXSFC Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kGGwnG and Youtube: http://bit.ly/3Yq0jW5
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It may be just over two years since Rab Sherwood lost her beloved parents father Sucha Singh Hothi, 85, and mother Gurdev Kaur Hothi, 75, to Covid 19, but this double loss combined with the manner of the loss and the family’s brutal treatment in hospital still haunts Rab.
Emigrants from Punjab in India to the British midlands in 1965, Sucha was forced to work in a factory despite being a qualified lawyer, qualifications not recognised in the UK. These incredibly hard-working, family-orientated and honest people, made a good life for themselves and their four children who they encouraged to aim high in life.
But this precious family unit is bereft after witnessing how their parents were left dehydrated, hungry, and allowed to die alone in a hospital even though they deserved the very best of care. Instead of being apprised of how her parents were progressing, Rab was repeatedly confronted with aggressive demands to sign Do Not Resuscitate forms, while learning that anyone over the age of 75 with one health condition didn’t qualify for intensive care treatment.
Created, produced, and hosted by Karen Rice, the Stolen Goodbyes podcast won gold in the fiercely competitive Best Lockdown category of the British Podcast Award 2021.
Stolen Goodbyes is described as: "outstanding ethical and trauma-informed journalism. Karen Rice manages to capture a historic event in real-time by listening with empathy. Future generations will listen to this podcast and know what it felt like to live through this pandemic." Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.
Please listen to, review, and share this podcast with your network, it really helps!
If you would like to make a donation (no matter how small) to the running costs of this passion project, please visit: https://karen-rice.com/podcast/ or http://bit.ly/3kMSKLg
You can follow Karen on Twitter @Ricekmc and Stolen Goodbyes on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3ITXSFC Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kGGwnG and Youtube: http://bit.ly/3Yq0jW5
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
With a career as an RAF engineer, and a vast vinyl collection comprising Vera Lynn to the Sex Pistols, John Leigh may have been an unconventional father but he left behind some unforgettable memories for his daughters.
In this episode, Sioux Hill brings her dad’s memory to life through music, a passion they shared from her childhood days through to adulthood.
Sioux walks us through their special relationship, the hardship she suffered losing her dad to Covid 19, and the subsequent surreality of his loss, with Downing Street throwing two parties on the one-year anniversary of her dad’s passing on the 16th of April 2021.
Compassionate like her father, Sioux’s happy place is the National Covid Memorial Wall where she was among the first Covid bereaved to paint thousands of hearts in the 10 days after the public mural was started on 29 March 2021. Sioux spends Father’s day and her dad’s birthdays at the wall as well as carrying out requests for people who want their loved ones remembered on the wall.
When she isn’t caring for four children with disabilities, Sioux finds her well-being in music while summoning the energy for activism, also campaigning for the Names Not Numbers group.
Music credits:
'An Honest Mistake' - The Bravery.
Rupert The Bear theme song, written by Len Beadle (also known as Frank Weston) and Ron Roker. Song recorded by Jackie Lee Music.
Created, produced, and hosted by Karen Rice, the Stolen Goodbyes podcast won gold in the fiercely competitive Best Lockdown category of the British Podcast Award 2021.
Stolen Goodbyes is described as: "outstanding ethical and trauma-informed journalism. Karen Rice manages to capture a historic event in real-time by listening with empathy. Future generations will listen to this podcast and know what it felt like to live through this pandemic." Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.
Please listen to, review, and share this podcast with your network, it really helps!
If you would like to make a donation (no matter how small) to the running costs of this passion project, please visit: https://karen-rice.com/podcast/ or http://bit.ly/3kMSKLg
You can follow Karen on Twitter @Ricekmc and Stolen Goodbyes on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3ITXSFC Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kGGwnG and Youtube: http://bit.ly/3Yq0jW5
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It is a testament to Alastair MacVicar's strength of character, that he is alive and well in the world today, improving the lives of others.
In the space of just 14 days, he lost his mother Jean, father Keith, and eldest sister Jayne to Covid 19. Alastair also lost his mother-in-law soon after. Then it was his turn. Covid 19 left him unable to string a sentence together. Alastair feared death. Then came an AstraZeneca vaccination, which left him with blood clots on both lungs. He recovered slowly but will be on blood-thinning medication for the rest of his life.
Everybody knew the MacVicars of Branston where they ran the local newsagents for 45 years, selling liquorice Catherine Wheels, fireworks and second-hand goods among other things. Now they'll be known further afield with the publication of this inspirational interview, part of Alastair's mission to honour his parents and sister by promoting his family as much as he can and fulfilling his mother's dying wish to: share your love, be kind, and each day, do a good deed.
Alastair has the chance to fulfil his plans unlike his sister Jayne who despite selling her house in Lincolnshire, never got to fulfil her dream of moving to France to live by the sea, thanks to Covid 19. Like her parents, she never had a funeral. To add insult to injury, the crematorium failed to realise that Jayne had been cremated without her family's knowledge weeks earlier, something that devastated her two sons and family.
Alastair also relates how distorted grief has left him unable to cry despite his enormous loss and that the surreality of losing almost half his family in such a short time without any death rituals means he still goes to drive to his parent's house for a cuppa and a toasted teacake three years after their deaths before realising that the house now belongs to someone else.
Created, produced, and hosted by Karen Rice, the Stolen Goodbyes podcast won gold in the fiercely competitive Best Lockdown category of the British Podcast Award 2021.
Stolen Goodbyes is described as: "outstanding ethical and trauma-informed journalism. Karen Rice manages to capture a historic event in real-time by listening with empathy. Future generations will listen to this podcast and know what it felt like to live through this pandemic." Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.
Please listen to, review, and share this podcast with your network, it really helps!
If you would like to make a donation (no matter how small) to the running costs of this passion project, please visit: https://karen-rice.com/podcast/ or http://bit.ly/3kMSKLg
You can follow Karen on Twitter @Ricekmc and Stolen Goodbyes on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3ITXSFC Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kGGwnG and Youtube: http://bit.ly/3Yq0jW5
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A singing prison officer, Rachael Lidgett finds solace in song following the loss of her role model dad Chris who she lost to Covid in December 2020. Growing up, her dad was her biggest singing champion, and she treats listeners to a soulful rendition of the songs that mean the most to her now, and how they help her to express her emotions.
From his legendary Sunday roast dinners with loads of gravy, Beangate, his work ethic, to him walking into Accident and Emergency in his navy blue dressing gown, to him being buried in his ubiquitous red loafer shoes on route "in his rocket to the stars," Rachael takes us on a memorable walk through life with her father and the surreality of his death to Covid 19.
Following his passing, Rachael petitioned the government to make the 23rd of March a bank holiday as a way to remember all the lives lost to Covid 19. In June 2021, the government responded by saying it was considering the most appropriate way to remember those who lost their lives to Covid but that it had no plans to create a bank holiday. Almost two years later, the government has offered nothing to mark the massive loss of life to Covid 19 in the UK.
Created, produced, and hosted by Karen Rice, the Stolen Goodbyes podcast won gold in the fiercely competitive Best Lockdown category of the British Podcast Award 2021.
Stolen Goodbyes is described as: "outstanding ethical and trauma-informed journalism. Karen Rice manages to capture a historic event in real-time by listening with empathy. Future generations will listen to this podcast and know what it felt like to live through this pandemic." Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.
Please listen to, review, and share this podcast with your network, it really helps!
If you would like to make a donation (no matter how small) to the running costs of this passion project, please visit: https://karen-rice.com/podcast/ or http://bit.ly/3kMSKLg
You can follow Karen on Twitter @Ricekmc and Stolen Goodbyes on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3ITXSFC Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kGGwnG and Youtube: http://bit.ly/3Yq0jW5
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This is an interview with Nikki Williams, a woman who lost her amazing mum Valerie and dad Hefin to Covid 19 within 11 days of each other in early 2020. Nikki was then diagnosed with incurable, secondary breast cancer.
With great resilience, Nikki recounts the lovely whirlwind romance her parents enjoyed, how they loved to dance, her Welsh dad’s love of singing, their love of life and family, and their generosity to the many children they fostered, including Sarah who they adopted, and the big role they played in the community helping others.
Despite experiencing a ‘living hell’ in losing her parents who were the centre of her world, battling guilt and post-traumatic stress disorder, Nikki is choosing to live as her parents did, emulating love and helping people in need in the Covid-19 bereaved and cancer communities. Her message is: "Be kind and love. My parents didn't have two pennies to rub together but they had each other, and us, the family."
Created, produced, and hosted by Karen Rice, the Stolen Goodbyes podcast won gold in the fiercely competitive Best Lockdown category of the British Podcast Award 2021.
Stolen Goodbyes is described as: "outstanding ethical and trauma-informed journalism. Karen Rice manages to capture a historic event in real-time by listening with empathy. Future generations will listen to this podcast and know what it felt like to live through this pandemic." Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.
Please listen to, review, and share this podcast with your network, it really helps!
If you would like to make a donation (no matter how small) to the running costs of this passion project, please visit: https://karen-rice.com/podcast/ or http://bit.ly/3kMSKLg
You can follow Karen on Twitter @Ricekmc and Stolen Goodbyes on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3ITXSFC Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kGGwnG and Youtube: http://bit.ly/3Yq0jW5
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this inspirational interview, Stella Hill describes how she has gone from the depths of despair and shock after losing her beloved mother Sharon to Covid 19 on Christmas Day in 2020 to a more positive place where she is now focused on continuing things her mother was interested in such as tracing her ancestry.
Stella has gone from being consumed by errors made, examining doctor’s notes, and questioning how her mum got Covid, to celebrating her mother’s legacy, her quirky ‘Sharonisms’, wicked sense of humor, and her fun, loving, steadfast, and non-judgemental presence in her life.
As well as cherishing the last time of everything including photos and voice messages she has from her mother, Stella shares how she is comforted when visited in dreams by her mum.
Created, produced, and hosted by Karen Rice, the Stolen Goodbyes podcast won gold in the fiercely competitive Best Lockdown category of the British Podcast Award 2021.
Stolen Goodbyes is described as: "outstanding ethical and trauma-informed journalism. Karen Rice manages to capture a historic event in real-time by listening with empathy. Future generations will listen to this podcast and know what it felt like to live through this pandemic." Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.
Please listen to, review, and share this podcast with your network, it really helps!
If you would like to make a donation (no matter how small) to the running costs of this passion project, please visit: https://karen-rice.com/podcast/ or http://bit.ly/3kMSKLg
You can follow Karen on Twitter @Ricekmc and Stolen Goodbyes on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3ITXSFC Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kGGwnG and Youtube: http://bit.ly/3Yq0jW5
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this special and wide-ranging interview with four grief/trauma experts, we explore how the Covid 19 bereaved community is only beginning to deal with their loss now, three years after the event. This is because many bereaved people felt secure in a lockdown bubble where they didn't have to deal with reality, a reality that saw the catastrophic loss of a loved one without a goodbye, funeral, memorial, or support. Many bereaved people are experiencing what I've called 'distorted grief' because they sometimes feel that the loss is surreal, happened to someone else, or even that it never took place.
We discuss how while the world has moved on, Covid bereaved people are only now facing a grief they compartmentalised, a loss the mind didn't integrate, and how they are still struggling to find a place for a 'dangling remorse' that doesn't seem to make sense.
The experts impart their views on the importance of sharing our experiences, not feeling that sharing is a burden, creating meaning from loss, having our loss witnessed as well as being an observer of our own grief. We also discuss how traumatic grief impacts body and mind, the importance of living holistically, breathing work, and being in nature, and the importance of honoring the legacy of a loved one. In a fast-moving world, these experts highlight the importance of taking time to slow down and to feel and mark a momentous loss in our lives.
The expert speakers are:
Dr Chloe Paidoussis-Mitchell, founder of The Grief Clinic
@drchloe_psychologist
Liz Gleeson, host of the Shapes of Grief podcast
@Shapesofgrief
Helen Smith, founder of the Lockdowngrief Instagram page
@lockdowngrief
Edy Nathan, author of It’s Grief -The Dance of Self-Discovery Through Trauma and Loss
@edynathan1
Created, produced, and hosted by Karen Rice, the Stolen Goodbyes podcast won gold in the fiercely competitive Best Lockdown category of the British Podcast Award 2021.
Stolen Goodbyes is described as: "outstanding ethical and trauma-informed journalism. Karen Rice manages to capture a historic event in real-time by listening with empathy. Future generations will listen to this podcast and know what it felt like to live through this pandemic." Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.
Please listen to, review, and share this podcast with your network, it really helps!
If you would like to make a donation (no matter how small) to the running costs of this passion project, please visit: https://karen-rice.com/podcast/ or http://bit.ly/3kMSKLg
You can follow Karen on Twitter @Ricekmc and Stolen Goodbyes on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3ITXSFC Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kGGwnG and Youtube: http://bit.ly/3Yq0jW5
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This episode is dedicated to the memory of the loveliest of men - my father Tom Rice. With the help of my cousin Samantha Hamshere, we take listeners on a journey through the extraordinary life of a man with humble beginnings in County Kerry (Ireland) who went on to realise his dreams in London where he transmitted love and laughter, leaving behind an enormous legacy.
This latest season of the Stolen Goodbyes podcast unpacks a troubling and as yet unexplored aspect of grief to Covid 19. I’ve called the season ‘Distorted Grief’ as we explore the manifestations of how losing someone to Covid 19 seems dreamlike and surreal, almost like that special someone could walk through the door at any moment. The Covid 19 bereaved are experiencing this derealisation of reality because they were denied the usual rituals that go with a death such as saying goodbye, seeing and dressing the body of a loved one, and having a funeral.
My guests also join me in exploring the importance of sounds, voice recordings, and music associated with loved ones, the joy of making unexpected connections, and a loved one's legacy, as well as sharing coping mechanisms, gratitude, and resilience in the face of adversity.
Created, produced, and hosted by Karen Rice, the Stolen Goodbyes podcast won gold in the fiercely competitive Best Lockdown category of the British Podcast Award 2021.
Stolen Goodbyes is described as: "outstanding ethical and trauma-informed journalism. Karen Rice manages to capture a historic event in real-time by listening with empathy. Future generations will listen to this podcast and know what it felt like to live through this pandemic." Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.
Please listen to, review, and share this podcast with your network, it really helps!
If you would like to make a donation (no matter how small) to the running costs of this passion project, please visit: https://karen-rice.com/podcast/ or http://bit.ly/3kMSKLg
You can follow Karen on Twitter @Ricekmc and Stolen Goodbyes on Instagram: https://bit.ly/3ITXSFC Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kGGwnG and Youtube: http://bit.ly/3Yq0jW5
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
On this special episode of the Stolen Goodbyes podcast, people who lost their loved ones to Covid 19 in the first wave of the pandemic recount how they have been left traumatised by the exceptional circumstances of their loss. They feel they were not only robbed of a loved one but of everything that goes with a death.
Loss to Covid 19 has been described as a grief like no other. That grief, affecting almost six million families across the world, is yet to be unpacked and understood.
These amazing people bare their souls in order that the public can truly understand the emotional, mental and physical fall out from Covid 19.
They are Linsey Simmonds who lost her father Kevin Morans on May 3, Eileen McNamee lost her mother Anna Shewan on May 21, Jane Smith who lost husband Gof on April 4, Sally Gardiner who lost husband of four months Trevor on April 27, Carole Caudwell who lost her mother Irene Cain on April 15, and Debbie Lewis who lost her father Barry on April 5.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/stolen-goodbyes.
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On this special episode of the Stolen Goodbyes podcast, people who lost their loved ones to Covid 19 in the first wave of the pandemic give their view on the Partygate revelations surrounding Boris Johnson and his government and Johnson's so-called 'Freedom Day' of 24 February 2020.
Johnson is currently refusing to say whether he will resign if he is fined by the police for breaking Covid 19 lockdown laws with a string of parties at Downing Street. Since the party revelations emerged, Johnson's story has changed from claiming all guidance at No10 was followed to him admitting he attended parties but thought they were work events and were therefore not against the rules.
The Covid 19 bereaved intimately recount what they have been through in the past two years: The Stolen Goodbyes, not having sight of their loved ones once they passed, not being able to dress them or have a lock of their hair, no wake, funeral, or memorial, not being unable to hug a loved one due to restrictions, a total lack of support in isolated grief. While they lived and continue to live this nightmare, Downing Street staff enjoyed party time, again and again.
Guests on this episode are: Linsey Simmonds who lost her father Kevin Morans on May 3, Eileen McNamee lost her mother Anna Shewan on May 21, Jane Smith who lost husband Gof on April 4, Sally Gardiner who lost husband of four months Trevor on April 27, Carole Caudwell who lost her mother Irene Cain on April 15, and Debbie Lewis who lost her father Barry on April 5.
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In this special episode, people who lost their loved ones to Covid 19 in the first wave of the pandemic recount how Boris Johnson's delayed lockdown in early 2020, has impacted their lives forever.
The UK's first confirmed cases were on 31 January 2020 but Johnson waited almost another two months before performing a screeching u-turn to put the country into full lockdown on March 23. This was all too late for the following people:
Linsey Simmonds who lost her father Kevin Morans on May 3, Eileen McNamee lost her mother Anna Shewan on May 21, Jane Smith who lost husband Gof on April 4, Sally Gardiner who lost husband of four months Trevor on April 27, Carole Caudwell who lost her mother Irene Cain on April 15, and Debbie Lewis who lost her father Barry on April 5.
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On this episode of the Stolen Goodbyes podcast, Karen talks to Emma Charlesworth in Kent in the UK, and Pamela Addison in New Jersey in the USA, who both lost their husbands to Covid 19 in April 2020. Both of their husbands were in their mid 40s when they died.
Despite the distance between them, the women have bonded through a shared sense of loss, support and grief including how both their husbands experienced their first Covid 19 symptoms on the same day, March 22.
In this special interview, the two friends intimately recount the highs and lows of grief to Covid 19, how they are getting through daily life, how their children are coping and their hopes for the future.
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On this episode of the Stolen Goodbyes podcast, Karen is joined by Jerri Vance from West Virginia, USA, who lost her husband James to Covid 19 on New Year’s Day 2021.
Jerri tells how James spent his life serving others, first in the Marine Corps, and then as a police officer, and was a proud and protective father who always went the extra mile to make his family's lives better.
Tragically, Jerri relates how a week after developing a cough, a fit and healthy James had been hospitalised with doctors telling her he had Covid Pneumonia which made his lungs look like blown glass.
Jerri heartbreakingly shares how she always believed James was coming home and that doctors believed they could save his life, saying James was: “supposed to be our success story.”
After his death, Jerri discovered phone messages in which James told friends how scared he was, but he never revealed his fear to his family, their protector to the last.
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En este episodio del podcast Despedidas Robadas, Karen está acompañada por el guatemalteco Mauro Márquez, quien perdió a su madre Irma, de 72 años, a causa del Covid 19, en Oklahoma, Estados Unidos, el 10 de enero de 2021.
En un episodio desgarrador, Mauro cuenta cómo compartían una relación muy estrecha, ya que su madre era sorda y dependía de él para entender el mundo, mientras que ella le ayudaba con su miopía.
Trágicamente, Mauro explica cómo esta madre tan generosa no pudo comunicarse con los médicos cuando enfermó de Covid 19, ni pudo leer los labios porque todo el personal médico llevaba mascarillas.
Mauro también cree que el Covid 19 ha impedido a su madre cumplir sus últimos deseos de ser enterrada con su difunto marido en Guatemala.
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On this episode of the Stolen Goodbyes podcast, Karen is joined by Guatemalan Mauro Marquez who lost his mother Irma, 72, to Covid 19, in Oklahoma, in the United States, on January 10, 2021.
In a heart rending episode, Mauro recounts how they shared a very close relationship as his mother was deaf and relied on him to make sense of the world, while she helped him with his short sightedness.
Tragically, Mauro explains how this most giving of mothers was unable to communicate with doctors when she fell ill with Covid 19, nor could she lip read as all the medical staff wore masks.
Mauro also feels Covid 19 has prevented his mother from realising her last wishes to be buried with her late husband in Guatemala.
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On this episode of The Stolen Goodbyes Podcast, Karen interviews Gordon Bonner, whose wife Muriel died on the 28th of April 2020. Gordon touchingly relates how they were long-distance pen pals before they embarked on a marriage that lasted for 63 years. Gordon was Muriel’s full-time carer after she developed dementia and before she was admitted to a care home after suffering a fall. Gordon movingly relates his anguish at being locked out of the care home before Muriel contracted Covid 19, the care home's lack of PPE and Muriel's titanic struggle for air before she finally succumbed to the virus. Although Gordon says he is now left in the hinterlands of despair and loneliness, he reminds us that grief is a price we pay for love.
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On this episode of the Stolen Goodbyes podcast, Karen sits down with Jane Smith who lost her husband Goff to Covid-19 in April 2020. Jane talks about the reputation Goff had in their town of Farringdon, Oxfordshire, as a first responder and painfully revisits the days and hours prior to his passing. A larger than life character, Goff loved nothing better than helping people out. Jane is comforted by the fact Goff didn’t suffer, but she feels guilty about the fact she couldn’t be with him in his final days.
Jane has had post-traumatic stress counselling to deal with the manner of her husband’s death. She feels that if the Government had locked down a fortnight earlier, Goff would still be here.
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On this episode of the Stolen Goodbyes podcast, Karen talks with Brielle Adams, the adoptive daughter of Leo Adams, who passed away due to Covid-19 in late March in the United States at the age of 85. Brielle recalls how Leo loved Brielle from the moment he met her and nicknamed her" "Piggy Boo."
Leo went on to foster and adopt her despite being in his 60s.
Brielle, who suffers from addition, explains how Leo became her rock in life and someone who always believed in her, always telling her: "Bri, you got this."
Brielle now plans to keep her father's legacy of helping people in the community alive when she starts a new job as a teaching assistant.
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On this episode of Stolen Goodbyes, Karen speaks to Katie Haslam from Wiltshire who lost her father Terry to COVID-19 on 8 April 2020. He was 70.
Katie speaks fondly of her kind and generous father who doted on his baby granddaughter but who had suffered a stroke in later life.
Katie speaks of her utter shock and confusion after hospital staff said her father was okay despite testing positive for COVID 19 before he died a few days later.
The pain of his death was made worse for Katie’s mother as she couldn’t say a proper goodbye to him as he thought he was coming home.
Katie believes the government should have enforced lock down earlier.
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In this episode of Stolen Goodbyes, Karen speaks to Debbie Lewis from Buckinghamshire who lost her father Barry to COVID-19 in April 2020. He was 74. His death came five months after she lost her mother Patricia to cancer.
Debbie speaks fondly of her community-minded father who befriended the sick and lonely in his local area. A practical joker, Barry was never happier than when he was making people laugh.
Debbie recounts the details of how her fit and healthy father fell ill with Covid 19 and how he insisted: “I’m not ready to go.” He kept how ill he really felt from his family.
She struggles to cope with losing her father and not being able to say goodbye and then to have to grieve in isolation.
The hospital asked the family to sign a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) form. The family had heard rumours DNRs were being used to clear hospital beds.
Debbie believes the government’s handling of the pandemic has been "absolutely shocking.”
Following her father's death, Debbie has set up a nationwide support group called COVID-19 Families in the UK. She takes comfort from the fact she is helping other people in the same position.
She feels guilty that she was unable to support her father and sister due to lockdown restrictions.
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In this episode of Stolen Goodbyes, Karen speaks to Carole Caudwell from Sussex, whose mother, Irene, survived four strokes only to lose her life to COVID-19 on 14 April 2020. She was 82.
Carole speaks about the extraordinary relationship Irene had with the stars of Liverpool in her day including the Beatles and Cilla Black.
After surviving strokes at the age of 81, her mother declared: “I’ve got too much to live for.”
Carole recounts the struggle her mother went through with Covid 19 and her feelings of anger that her mother was placed on a Covid hospital ward when she was Covid free.
Carole is left feeling robbed of everything that goes with a death and guilt that she couldn’t do more to save her mother.
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In this episode of Stolen Goodbyes, Karen speaks with Michelle Rumble from Pinner who lost her mother Violet to COVID-19 on April 9 2020. Violet was 78.
in this heart breaking episode of Stolen Goodbyes, Michelle recounts the shocking lack of care her selfless mother was subjected to after contracting Covid 19.
Michelle describes how her teetotal, non smoker mother’s ultimate fear was dying.
Hospital doctors told Violet her mother was comfortable and there would be no more news until the following afternoon but Violet died alone at 5am.
Michelle says there are hardly any medical notes on her mother who she believes was left unchecked for long periods of time. The hospital put a Do Not Resuscitate in place for her mother without anyone's knowledge.
Knowing her mum died on her own keeps Michelle awake at night. She wants justice for her mother.
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In this episode of Stolen Goodbyes, Karen talks to Sally Gardiner, who tragically lost her husband to COVID-19 in April 2020 just four months after their wedding. Trevor was 59.
Sally describes their whirlwind romance, fairy tale wedding in Leeds castle and honeymoon to Venice. She tells how Trevor gave her so much happiness and a future she always dreamed of.
Trevor, a diabetic, began feeling fatigue and nausea before being admitted to hospital where he was told that if he continued to improve, he would be home in two weeks.
Sally watched Trevor's deterioration via WhatsApp video calls. When she was told he wouldn't make the night, Sally's world crashed.
Even though Trevor was in a coma, he could hear his wife's voice, as his heart rate went up each time she spoke.
Sally believes he knew he was dying because tears were rolling down his face.
Sally is left emotionally broken following her loss and is angry at the government for not telling people to stay home from the beginning of March.
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On this episode of Stolen Goodbyes, Karen speaks to Eileen McNamee from Scotland who lost her mother Anna to COVID-19 on May 21 2020.
Anna had been a fit 91-year-old who travelled the world cycling with her husband in years gone by. Eileen relives some of her favourite memories as well as describing her mother’s battle with the unforgiving virus.
Anna recounts how her elderly father didn’t want any carers coming into the house when he learned about the pandemic. To protect him, the family decided against telling him his wife had later contracted and died from Covid 19.
Eileen is left with sadness, despair, grief and worry and wishes people understood how tough it is to lose a loved one under these circumstances.
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On this episode of the Stolen Goodbyes podcast, Karen speaks to Neil Robinson from Durham who lost his ‘whirlwind’ partner Susan Porter to COVID-19 on May 1 2020. She was 58.
Neil talks about some of the favourite memories he shared with Susan from as early as their teenager years to a chance encounter a decade later that resulted in them reuniting for 30 years.
Neil struggles with emotion as he describes how Susan fell ill and was hospitalised with Covid 19. Her condition improved for a time before she took a turn for the worse. Neil’s voice breaks as he tells how Susan thought she was going to die and how they had to discuss her final wishes.
Neil wanted to be with Susan at the end but a nurse held her hand as she passed. Neil watched through a hospital ward window as she slipped away. In their last conversation, Susan told Neil: "I love you, I’ll beat this and I’ll see you on the other side (of the illness)."
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In this episode of Stolen Goodbyes, Karen talks to Shelly Weeks from Somerset, who lost her husband Roy to COVID-19 on April 11 2020. He was 73 years old.
She describes the devotion the couple shared through the years despite nae sayers claiming the age gap between them meant the romance was doomed to fail.
Shelly is angry and dissatisfied at the standard of care her husband, who suffered from dementia, received in the care home where he was resident. Her pain was compounded by the fact that following Roy's death, the home sent her a report she says was “full of lies”. Shelly also received a bill for chiropody treatment, dated before he arrived at the home.
Shelly is determined to get justice for Roy.
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In this episode of the Stolen Goodbyes podcast, Karen speaks to Linsey Simmonds in the Rhondda Valley in Wales who lost her father, Kevin Morgans, to COVID-19 on May 3 2020. He was 65.
Linsey speaks with a beautiful fondness about her popular father who was due to move into a granddad flat at the back of her home where he looked forward to being woken up by his young grandson every morning.
An anguished Linsey describes how the hospital spent a month saying her dad would be coming home with a care plan before suddenly deciding to move him onto a Covid ward because he was having seizures although he had not tested positive for Covid.
There was next to no communication from the hospital for a month when Linsey learned her father had signed a Do Not Resuscitate form without her knowledge.
Linsey believes her father ticked too many boxes to fight for in the eyes of the hospital.
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On this episode of Stolen Goodbyes, Karen speaks to Georgina Forsythe from Warwickshire who lost her fireman father John to Covid 19 on May 7 2020.
John caught the virus while on a cruise to South America with his wife Linda where they were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. The couple went ahead with the trip at the beginning of March after the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advised that it was safe to do so.
A cruel and inhumane set of circumstances ensued which saw Linda forced to leave her sick husband behind in a hospital in Miami while she caught a last flight back to the UK.
John later died from the virus more than 4,000 miles from home. He was 63.
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Martin and wife Pamela had seven wonderful years together before he fell ill with Covid 19 while working as a speech and language pathologist in New Jersey in the United States. In this episode of Stolen Goodbyes, Pamela recounts how the couple met online and describes how inspiring Martin was as a husband, father and medical professional.
Martin fell ill with a cough before being admitted to hospital where the initial feedback was very positive. However,his condition deteriorated, and the day he was supposed to get off the ventilator, he contracted an infection. He was just 44 when he died in April this year.
Pamela relates how a nurse held his hand while Pamela spoke to him over the phone from home. The nurse told her that Martin squeezed her hand when Pamela told him she loved him.
Pamela struggles with the sadness she feels about the fact their children, a two-year-old daughter and a five month old son, will never know their father. She also worries about their financial future now that Martin is gone.
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On this episode of Stolen Goodbyes, Karen speaks to Emma Charlesworth who lost her husband Stuart, more commonly known as Charlie, to COVID 19 at the age of just 45.
Emma speaks candidly about how Charlie battled and overcame testicular cancer when he was just 26, only to lose his life to Corona virus less than two decades later.
Emma speaks movingly of how Charlie walked to an ambulance after suffering an apparent panic attack. Charlie never returned home. A hero dad, he left behind a beloved 10-year-old daughter.
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