For Freddie: A Mother's Final Gift to Her Son

Product Information

It was an absolute hit with the public and critics thanks to the team’s humour, honesty and rowdiness about everything from dating and intimacy to pain, winning five highly-acclaimed awards since its inception. It proves that whatever life throws at you there are some things that unfortunately we can’t control , but what we can do is to choose how we handle it. In the podcast, the first since Bland’s death and released on Wednesday, Mr Bland admitted neither he or is wife “understood just how tough those last few days were going to be”.

The 41-year-old met his advanced nurse practitioner spouse at a cancer conference in Manchester in 2019, a year after Rachael died aged just 40 with breast cancer. He also said that society needed to ‘break down the taboo’ of finding love again after being widowed for people to’ stop worrying about being judged for it’. Bland, who accidentally mixed up Rachael and Amy's names during his chat with Lorraine, said: 'It's amazing they talked so openly about it; that does wonders for breaking down taboos. We just want to raise as much money as possible as these charities have taken such a big hit over Covid. Steve took over from Rachael as a presenter, alongside Deborah James and Lauren Mahon, following her death.I have listened to the amazing podcast with admiration, in the darkest of days Rachael has inspired others to talk about cancer and has been incredibly brave in doing so, with nothing off limits. I was desperate to read/listen to this book but also scared - as a mother to 4 children myself, would the story be to 'real' for me or my emotions to take? He said the pair talk openly about Rachael, and Amy has met with Rachael's family, saying the nurse practitioner has felt she is 'living in Rachael's shadow a bit.

I first became aware of her when she died - thinking how terribly sad it was that she had died so young, and my heart breaking over the photos of her little boy and husband.

I would lay you in your cot each night and communicate from my mind to yours, 'I will do this, Freddie - I will take it gladly if it means we can still stay together'. She said on the podcast: "When Steve and I met we would have these sweet conversations about when we grow old. The love that Rachael had for Freddie pours out of this book and even though she isn't here anymore that love will never die. I knew there were always some nasty little cells lurking about in there waiting to catch me out again. These are the times I love most at the moment, where we are snuggled up on the giant bed with you about to go off to sleep and I can comfort you.

I like 5 Live and I used to hear Rachel Bland on drive, then I heard about the popcast you, me and the big C and although I don't have cancer I find the popcast really informative and interested and it got me thinking about things you don't usually want to think about in a healthier way. She died two days later at the age of 40 at her home in Knutsford, Cheshire surrounded by her family.It was these three amazing women going through a really difficult time who were talking and joking about it like it was Eastenders and they were down the pub or whatever. It featured the trio's self-deprecating humour to cope with their situation; when Bland announced she was unsure that she would survive to the end of the series, James retorted, "Shut up, Rachael, stop being so over-dramatic. In the early stages of her condition, she continued to present Radio 5 Live, saying she would rather be known as "Rachael the news presenter" than "Rachael the cancer patient". However, it is also the story of one rather incredible lady, who starts off as a fairly normal person, with a normal life and with normal things happening to her. Having a 2 year old reading this was so poignant and made me really appreciate the little things in life.