Actress Holly Matthews, famous for her role in the BBC hit hospital drama Casualty, has shared the tragic news that her husband has died following his battle with a brain tumour.
She has revealed that her husband, Ross Blair, died on Saturday “as the final whistle was blowing” at the end of a football match. Ross passed away in a hospice as he had to be cared for on the lead up to his death.
Holly said to the Coventry Telegraph: “On Saturday July 29, just as the final whistle was blowing for the end of Saturday football, my incredible husband took his last breath. He was surrounded by me, his mum, dad and sister, peacefully and with the support of the incredible Myton Hospice staff.”
She continued: “The loss we are feeling is unfathomable right now and breaking the news to my daughters was extremely tough, but we are supporting each other and taking it one step at a time.”
Ross was only 32-years-old when he passed away. He was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour three years ago. He did undergo treatment following the diagnosis, including brain surgery and chemotherapy, which seemed to work for a while.
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He is said to have responded well to the first treatments and although the tumour didn’t grow for two years doctors told him he had a 50/50 chance of surviving another five years. After a scan revealed the tumour had grown in 2016, Ross had an operation to remove most of it and it seemed that things were on the up for them.
Following this the couple and their two children Brooke, six, and Texas, four, went on holiday but two days after they got home Ross had a seizure which caused his health to rapidly deteriorate. He was recently transferred to the Myton Hospice in Warwick for professional care.
Last month Holly wrote a heartbreaking Facebook message about caring for her husband, who she was in a relationship with for nine years, at the hospice where he was for the last month of his life. She said: “Nearly a month on, living in Myton Hospice and my amazing husband is still holding on.
“Of course he’s now in a deep sleep, not eating, drinking, or conscious of his surroundings, but his strong body is fighting for him and sadly at this stage it is kind of working against him.
He’s comfortable and looks peaceful and we have all accepted that he will go when he goes and we have no control over that.
“We were warned this bit can be prolonged and hard on the family and I have felt that, at times over the last week. What a [expletive] up reality to be waiting for one of the people you love most in the whole world to die and even hoping that it will come soon.
“That is a weird space to be in, but a space that I and his family are living in. Grieving before they have gone, waiting for the last breath, half knowing it’s best if it is, half relieved when it’s not.
None of this feels real at all and I keep having moments of ‘what the [expletive]?!’, ‘how did we even get here?!’ And I have to drag my mind into the now and deal with it.”
She continued with her heartbreaking message, and said she hadn’t left her husband’s side and she has had a lot of support from friends and family. She said: “I’ve cried a whole heap this week, but I feel better for it and today and yesterday have focused my mind on calm and being productive.
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“The hospice is a very calming and protected space, I haven’t left for over a week and even then it was only for an hour. I am cocooned in here and I know the harder place will be when I’m out in the ‘real world’ where people dare to continue on with their lives, as if nothing has happened (how dare they, hey?!) and I have to move forward.
“The support behind me is incredible and I feel every kind gesture and message. My beautiful daughters are doing great and I love them so much. Today I got my big girl pants firmly on and I’m going to deal with everything that comes. Thank you. Peace.”
Holly has helped to raise over £7,000 for Myton Hospice and she praises the staff for all their hard work and support for her family.