Frankie's story

My dad was an incredible person and someone I really looked up to. He was a tree surgeon, had his own business, and also had a fantastic job at Bishop Burton College. He was very respected for what he did, and everybody loved him.

I didn’t really believe that he had died, it all felt like a big lie. Everything was surreal and I felt very isolated.
At the time I wasn’t sure how to process it. How do you learn to live without your dad at just 10 years old? How does any child work through that? I went to counselling and it did help but it didn’t go deeper into my grief. I struggled to open up about how I was feeling.

Six years later and I still hadn’t found a way to deal with losing my dad. He was my world, and nothing seemed to help with that pain. I still missed him so much.

My mum could see that I wasn’t coping and that I needed help and someone outside of our family to talk to. She got in touch the Children’s Bereavement Team at Dove House. I started one-to-one sessions to try and understand my feelings. Going back to when my dad died was hard but it helped me to process it.



Finding people who have gone through the same thing is hard but when you find those people it helps. I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I hadn’t opened up at my sessions. I am able to talk about what I went through and don’t feel so alone anymore.

The sessions at the hospice have helped me to understand how I feel about things and come to terms with my dad dying. Nothing will ever take away that pain, but it feels lighter now.

I have followed in my dad’s footsteps, and I am a student at Bishop Burton College. I feel close to him there and I am actually taught by someone who was trained by him!

Thanks to Dove House I am able to remember the happy memories and find joy in the things that bring me closer to my dad.