The One Show guest, Rob Delaney, spoke about his 'magnificent' little boy, Henry, who died in 2018 after he was found to have brain cancer, prompting an outpouring of love from viewers. The co-creator of Channel 4's Catastrophe and star of Deadpool 2, Delaney has written a book about Henry's diagnosis, treatment and death, called A Heart That Works and he was on the red sofa to talk about the book on Monday evening, October 17.
Viewers saw Delaney talk openly and passionately, while being brilliantly touching and funny, about the book, which he hoped would help other parents.
Speaking of Henry, who he shared with wife Leah, along with two other sons, Rob said: "He was a very sweet, mischievous, funny boy, he was third, we have three boys in a row, two years between them. And we sensed right away he'd have to be very magnetic and adorable and attractive because the house was a zoo. So he was very lovely and he was magnificent. And then he had surgery once they found a brain tumour and that disabled him quite seriously, physically. But the tumour was near his brainstem, so his frontal lobe wasn't affected so he was still very, very funny."
He explained that Henry's tumour was found just after he turned one and he died aged two. When he embarked on the book he told The One Show host, Lauren Laverne, that he wanted to write something "very angry" but that the book turned into a project all about the family's love for Henry. And Rob hoped that the book would help others both going through grief and those who want to support them.
"I now know that if someone loses somebody close to them, I'm not going to be like, 'is there anything I can do?' I'm just gonna go over their house, duplicate one of their keys when they're napping, and then come in and do their laundry, you know, force them to go out and take a walk while I watch one of their kids or whatever. It's really way more about actions than words," he said, refusing to be called courageous by one of the viewers who wrote into the show.
He added: "Let me say quickly, it's not courageous. It's just what other bereaved parents did for me and my wife, so I was like, look, if I can write a book, that'll reach somebody in a suburb of Yorkshire who can't get to a London bereaved parents meeting, then I got to do it. So it's just 'here you go. Use it. I hope helps.'"
Viewers were more than forthcoming with their praise and admiration for Rob. Stu Elmore tweeted: "I cannot put into words how much I adore and respect Rob Delaney." Cheryl Anne Tomsett added: "@BBCTheOneShow Rob Delaney's honesty resonated so deeply
And MissDonnaCooke said: "I've heard of Rob Delaney before but never really knew who he was, just caught his interview on The One Show & I'm so blown away, I've watched families experience the loss of a child & his book sounds like it will be very important to people experiencing that unimaginable grief."
Sue Simmonds was all of us when she tweeted: "I’m going to cry into my dinner #TheOneShow."
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