Long Lost Family presenter Davina McCall – who is hosting My Mum, Your Dad tonight (September 17) – previously opened up about her sister Caroline’s final act of kindness before her tragic death.
Caroline passed away in 2012 at the age of 50 after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
Long Lost Family host Davina McCall on death of sister Caroline
Last year, Davina appeared on Steven Bartlett’s podcast, The Diary of a CEO.
During her appearance on the pod, the 55 year old spoke of her sister’s battle with cancer and her tragic passing.
Davina explained that she had never really been able to “get through” to her sister as she had her walls up so high.
However, after learning that her sister’s cancer diagnosis was terminal, Davina made it her mission to break down her sister’s walls.
In doing so, Davina admitted that she had the best seven weeks of her life with Caroline before her death.
Davina explained that for weeks, she begged Caroline to let her take care of her in the evenings before bed. However, this meant that that Davina would have to see Caroline naked, something she’d never done before.
‘She taught me so much in her death’
Eventually, one night before bed, Caroline told Davina that she could moisturise her skin. She allowed this because she knew how much it would mean to her TV star sister.
Davina then continued: “She taught me so much in her death. She was so brave. She never once complained.”
The star then said: “She never once got frightened, she never cried, and she tried to look after me.”
“Obviously, nobody had ever seen her naked and she had this amazing carer called Claire, oh my god, she was the best ever. She was the most gentle and she understood respect and dignity. And because Claire was so amazing, Caroline would not let me get her undressed or ready for bed,” she then continued.
“She didn’t want me to see her naked. And the night that she went to sleep for the final time, and then three days later she died, she let me do it. To me it felt like Mecca, it felt like I had arrived. This was my pilgrimage to my sister – I had finally crawled over the fence and I am now at her body,” she then said.
Davina on Caroline
Davina then continued. “I asked her if I could moisturise her – because every inch of her body needed to be creamed so that she wouldn’t get bed sores. I couldn’t believe it, she had the softest skin. My sister had no hair, like at all. Her arms were so soft. I kept telling her how soft her skin was and she was laughing away. She called me ridiculous,” she said.
“I got to cream her whole body and it felt like she had given that to me. And it was hideous for her. Even when she was dying, she gave me a bit of herself that I had never had before. It was so nice. That night she went to sleep and she was really distressed. They came and gave her more morphine – she was calling me ‘mummy’ and holding on to my hand. She had never been like that before,” she then said.
Davina then went on to say that she had been at Caroline’s side when she died. She said that she had continued speaking to her even after she passed.
“I just wanted her to know that I wasn’t crying – I was trying to be really strong for her. I kept saying to her: ‘I’m going to be fine,’ because, I think out of everything, she was most worried about me,” she said.
Speaking of sister Caroline’s final days, Davina McCall said: “It was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”
My Mum, Your Dad airs tonight (September 17) at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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