SIBBS Newsletter, Winter 2020

SIBBS Newsletter, Winter 2020 | www.tcf.org.uk 8 2016 was the year of the unexpected. It started with David Bowie’s death on the 10th January. Next came Leicester City winning the Premier League, then the Brexit vote, Donald Trump running for President, my long-term partner and I breaking up. By September, I’d already ruled out the year as being without a doubt, a bit of a mess. As Autumn arrived, and I returned to University for my final year, I found out one of my brothers, Dominic, had been in a car accident – he had broken his leg, received some whiplash, but was otherwise fine aside from the likelihood of losing his licence. Naturally, I was concerned, but to be honest, it wasn’t the worst thing that had happened so far that year in my mind. To explain, this wasn’t exactly an unfamiliar situation; my eldest brother had already subjected us as a family to about six (serious) car accidents and although this was Dominic’s first, I was well versed. Dom was admitted to Brighton Hospital and before long had a successful surgery to repair the break in his thigh. I, as the dutiful younger sister, pulled myself away from University for a day, and popped into hospital with the obligatory ‘get well soon’ card. He was sleepy from the painkillers, and we didn’t talk much (he also wasn’t one for cards). I went back to University the same day and Dom was discharged from hospital a few days later. On the 27th October 2016, two days after Dom had left hospital, I woke up to a phone call from my Mum. It was 8:30am, which surprised me, didn’t she know student etiquette? But something felt off, other than the early wake up call. “Had I failed at grieving?” Hanna’s story By Hanna Panton