Sophie Smith

We had five years.

Harvey was born.

When Harvey was born, we had to have IVF for Harvey because of Ash's treatment.

And we wanted to get straight on and get cracking with IVF because even though Ash said he was going to live, at the back of my mind, I knew he had a diagnosis, a prognosis of a year.

And I wanted him to be around when his child was born.

But it took a while, and it took two years.

Two years later, Harvey was born.

And Ash was in remission.

Well, as much as remission you can be in with that kind of cancer.

But he was well and having six-monthly scans.

And Harvey was just... Oh, my goodness.

Harvey was such... It was so wonderful.

He was a big, healthy, full-term, bouncing boy.

And...

Owen was a doting big brother and the four of us just lived life.

So we never, um... shielded the boys from... from Ash's decline.

And, um...

Over the last, I guess, two years before Ash passed, he had recurrent tumors.

So he was going into hospital, having brain surgery, then he was having to have chemo, but then he'd get well again.

And so the boys, and also, of course, Owen had been six months old when Ash was diagnosed, so Owen grew up