Living with dying

Doctor and prize-winning author of The Way We Die, Professor Seamus O'Mahony, has strong views about how death is managed, or mis-managed in hospital today - he shares them here

When Sean McGibney's brother Kieran died, Sean didn't find it at all easy to access any help for sibling grief....and so he's founded his own charity NOA (Number One Always) to support anyone who finds themselves in a similar position.

Oliver Christen talks very movingly about his book  As She Chose - about his mother's choice to end her life with a death fast - sometimes known as Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking.  So a trigger warning - as he calmly describes the way his mother came to this choice and how she achieved it with his support.  

Russell Jackson is the author of a book called There are No Words - a Bereaved Father's guide to Stillbirth and Neo Natal loss.  He writes from his own experience of losing his daughter Florence who was still born in 2022.

Professor Richard Coker caused a bit of a stir over the airwaves and social media recently on publication of his book Timor Mortis - 'How We Live with Death' where he openly discusses how doctors have always been involved in Assisted Dying

Author and illustrator Katie Cleminson's very moving story of what it was like going through labour with her daughter Wren, who was sadly stillborn.  And we talk about her new picture book 'Beyond' (Penguin Random House) that came out of the whole experience. 

One million people in the UK have a diagnosis of Dementia - and although many of them are clustered around communities where the elderly choose to live, there are also, sadly, younger people in their 40s and 50s with dementia too.  Steve Sansom works with both the elderly and the young for the Age UK Dementia service in and around the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

We don't always give pet loss the attention it deserves - indeed we tend not to expect people to experience 'proper' grief when it comes to animals.  But many of us know that losing a family pet  can be devastating - as Grief Counsellor  Kate Nudds explains here.

Lucy Carpenter works for HospiceUK as their Compassionate Employers Lead.  This means she works with people who are around death and dying every day in hospices, as well as those who deal with the bereaved in other every day jobs.  Many of us have had bad experiences trying to inform banks and utilities about the death of a loved one.  Her work aims to improve those interactions.

Jess Seymour - who last talked to us (Episode 28) about the untimely death of her husband Matt aged 35 is now involved in organising an Art Trail for Thames Hospice where he died.  She shares her mixed emotions about this and the way the work has helped her through her grief.

Palliative care nurse Louisa Nicoll has interesting views on choice around treatment options, more information for patients, and whether it is always a good idea to die at home:

Jacqueline Gunn founded a company called Workplace Bereavement Advocacy - designed to train up individuals in every company to find, and befriend anyone who's been bereaved within their organisation.  As so often happens, her work stems from her own bereavement - the death of her father:

Emma Gray is a solicitor turned grief counsellor and someone who helps people through the awful 'sadmin' that's involved when we suffer a bereavement.  She explains here how the tragedy of her husband's oesophageal cancer and death led her to a change of career.

I make a return visit to the Greenacres Chiltern Living Memorial Park where I'm given a guided tour - on a rather windy day and on a noisy buggy - while I learn about the facilities in this beautiful, tranquil space particularly suited to anyone who wants a natural burial or simply to rest in nature at the end of their days.

To mark Hospice UK's Dying Matters Awareness Week, I talk to Jenni McDonagh who's keen to sing the praises of hospices after she witnessed wonderful care for her husband Nick at Thames Hospice.  Since his death, she's devoted herself to fund-raising for the hospice, and an amazing sanctuary for families of children with cancer, which she runs and funds with her family.

Dr Lucy Pollock is a consultant geriatrician who has loads of advice about ageing well. We talk to her here about how to plan for our old age and death -  and how to live healthily and well in the meantime.

John Adams is a fourth generation funeral director who successfully campaigned for Bereavement, Death and Dying to be on the school curriculum.  He shares his views here around why it’s so important for all of us to talk about death - and particularly for small children to learn about it at an early stage.

John Troyer has been around death and dying his entire life. and is currently Death Scholar at Large for the University of Bath. Sadly, his entire family of sister, mother and father all died within the last few years. Here, he shares how his own experience impacts his work and how his work impacts his personal grief.

I recorded the following interview with Hazel Cooper on 6 February 2026.  She had just been given a terminal diagnosis and bravely chose to speak out about this and her forthcoming death.  I'm very sad to report that Hazel died in late March.  But happy to say that she died at home, just as she wished, peacefully and surrounded by her three sons and her grand-daughter.  Thank you Hazel for sharing...

Anyone bereaved know how it helps to find someone to talk to - and not just anyone but someone who's been through a similar bereavement. Maria Bailey and her team of Grief Specialists understand this - and will help you find the right help for you.

Rhian Manning's charity 2wish hit the headlines recently when Prince William visited her home and was filmed becoming emotional during their chat. 2wish is designed to offer help and support to any family who've experienced the sudden and unexpected death of a child or young person aged under 25. As she did.

When Joseph Cavalli-Price's mother was dying, he managed to find a way of playing the piano to her while in the hospice.  This inspired him to set up Music in Hospices and he tells the story of his journey.

For this episode, we visit a Bereavement Group which meets once a month at the GreenAcres Chiltern Living Memorial Park.  Here people who've lost someone recently, or long ago, meet up to swap notes and share experiences and feelings.  And they share that with us.

Paul Calandrino's wife - novelist Cai Emmons - decided to end her life once the devastating disease ALS took its hold.  They live in Oregon so she was able to choose when to die.  And she wanted a record of her decline and death - so they made a documentary about it called Vanishing - A Love Story.  He tells us more here:

Jane Harris and her husband set up the Good Grief Project on the sudden, unexpected death of her son while he was away travelling.  She describes the devastating impact of this loss and how they now devote their lives to helping others who lose children.