Sibling Support appears on BBC Breakfast

Sibling Support appeared on BBC Breakfast on Sunday (19th November 2023) to raise awareness of sibling bereavement.

Our founder Callum Fairhurst was joined by Gracie Nuttall and her mum Nicola on the Breakfast sofa following Gracie’s viral TikTok about her sister, Laura, who died earlier this year.

Laura died aged 23 from glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive form of brain cancer after originally been given 12 months to live in 2018. Gracie’s TikTok has now been viewed by over 17 million people, and has received lots of comments from people whose siblings have also died or they know someone who died from glioblastoma too.

Gracie said she decided to post the video on TikTok to try and reach a young demographic of people so they can learn more about the symptoms of the disease.

During the interview, Callum told his own story following his 14-year-old brother Liam’s death from cancer when he was 12 years old. He talked about how everyone grieves differently, and how it took him a long time to come to terms with Liam’s death, something which is still challenging today.

Callum also talked about how sibling bereavement is very often forgotten about.

90% of bereaved brothers and sisters surveyed by Sibling Support for International Siblings Day 2023 said grieving siblings are forgotten about. And almost all (97.3%) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that more sibling specific grief support is needed.

Gracie and Laura’s mum Nicola agreed discussing how people often asked Gracie how her parents were, but often forgot to ask how she was.

Talking about what makes sibling bereavement different, Nicola said that you expect people that are older like your parents and grandparents to die, but your sibling is meant to be there for everything like when you get when you get married or have children.

If you’re struggling to cope with the death of a sibling, visit our ‘get support’ section to find more ways to get help.