Poetry tracks NI man’s torturous journey since loss of wife to cancer

The 59-year-old Belfast man, who is originally from Omagh, hopes the book can raise funds for cancer research in memory of his wife Jacqui.

He has called his collection of poems ‘Girl with the Dove – Poems of loss, love and life’.

Dermot’s wife had just turned 54 a few days before she died: “We had been together for 35 years and married for 28. I know that it’s a cliche, but we were truly soul mates.

“When her life ended, I really felt that mine had also.”

Dermot, who took early retirement from a career in occupational health and safety of over 30 years following Jacqui’s death, added: “However, you find strength from somewhere and manage to carry on and slowly, very slowly, you begin to emerge from the depths of despair and begin to live again.

“It’s a very long and torturous journey and it’s littered with obstacles and pitfalls along the way.

“The poems in my book were written over the five-year period since I lost Jacqui and they essentially track my progress over that time, from the darkness of despair to the light of hope.”

Since losing his wife Dermot has completed three long distance walks, each over 1,000km, in Ireland and Spain to raise funds for his chosen charity.

In 2015 he walked the entire Ulster Way and the following year he walked a number of Camino de Santiago routes in northern Spain.

In 2018 he walked the length of Ireland from Castletownbere in Co Cork to Ballycastle in Co Antrim.

His walks, and books and calendars relating to the journeys, have to date raised more than £48,000 for Cancer Research UK.

He said: “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to save Jacqui from this horrendous disease, but I take some comfort from the fact that my fundraising efforts might help save others. It’s this belief that has motivated me to keep going over the last five years.”

Dermot, who has a son Matthew, 28, living in Berlin and a daughter Hannah, 26, in Belfast, added: “I hope that people who have gone through, or are currently going through, similar loss to that which I experienced will be able to relate to my poems and perhaps gain some comfort from them – understanding that one does eventually emerge from grief.

“I also hope that it educates those who have had no experience of losing a loved one as to just how devastating and long lasting grief can be.”

His book is available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle format.

Paperback copies can also be ordered directly from Dermot by emailing [email protected]