Ask any family and they’ll recount the sheer heartbreak of losing a longtime pet.
The feeling of grief is now all too familiar for Nova 969 radio presenter Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald, who revealed on Monday night he and his family had suddenly lost their pet dog Cooper earlier that day.
WATCH IN THE PLAYER ABOVE: Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald breaks down on air as he talks about the death of his dog
On Tuesday morning, Fitzy broke down in tears as he spoke about his loss and called out the stigma around men not showing their vulnerability on his radio show, Fitzy and Wippa.
“I didn’t want to do this segment, we talk about toxic masculinity all the time, blokes should be sharing their feelings in and in the current climate we are in at the moment we should be doing this quite a bit,” the 43-year-old said.
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“Fellas if you’ve got these feelings pent-up, you need to talk to someone. You should be talking about this stuff. It’s always been that old adage of men don’t want to show weakness but I think that’s b—–t, I think we need to push that aside.”
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The last goodbye: Fitzy cuddles his dog Cooper one final time.
(Image: Instagram)He went on to reveal how his dog’s condition suddenly deteriorated.
“It happened really fast, he hit a wall about 11, he wouldn’t eat he wouldn’t move. I thought he’s in a bit of trouble here. We found out he had a huge tumour in his stomach. I couldn’t understand why BJ was so emotional, and I told her ‘we have to be positive.’
“‘Be positive’ and in the back of my mind I was just saying to myself ‘it’s just a dog, it’s just a dog.’ It didn’t hit me until I got home because he’s not annoying me anymore, I just wanted him to annoy me,” Ryan explained as he burst into tears.
But the hardest part came when Fitzy had to tell his two young sons Hewston, eight, and Lennox, five, that Cooper wouldn’t be coming home.
“I rang Hewie and I said mate he’s pretty crook, I don’t think he’s going to make it. Hewie didn’t know how to react so he puts the phone down and yells to Lenny: ‘He’s going to die!’ and you just hear Lenny howling in the background but that was their coping mechanism.”
“I just want to say we need dogs more than ever at the moment because our place is a rabble you know, we don’t talk about this on the show but homeschooling is stressful. I know a lot of families out there they don’t even know if they’re going back to work, it’s horrible.”
WATCH: Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald farewells his dog Cooper. Post continues below…
“I let me just say this, who is the one person always waiting at the door every time without fail with unconditional love? I want everyone to know don’t ever take that for granted with your dog.”
“In situations like this I bury myself, I have to work hard and I go and do a workout, sweat and listen to music. So I went onto Spotify to try and take my mind off things and I think I told you guys on the show that on Spotify you can do a pet playlist. So I put on there Cooper’s playlist and there’s a song on there that we used to play when we would go for walks, it’s from the strokes. It’s called Someday. Someday I’ll see you again old boy, go chase those birds mate – I love you.”
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Fitzy’s wife BJ says goodbye to Cooper.
(Image: Instagram)Ryan’s powerful radio segment comes after he panned a touching tribute to Cooper just hours after his passing on Monday night.
“Lost the old boy Cooper today. Surreal feeling, it all happened so fast,” the former Big Brother star began.
“Been thinking how important dogs are in the current situation we are all in. No matter how tough we are doing they are always there so happy to see you at home,” he added.
“Don’t take that for granted, it’s been bloody tough coming home and realising he’s not following you around. See ya old mate, now go chase those birds ❤️,” Ryan signed off.
His post was accompanied with an album of beautiful photos documenting Cooper’s life – from when he was just a fluffy young puppy playing with Ryan’s young sons, to the day he and wife Belinda had to say goodbye.
In one heartbreaking photo, Belinda can be seen crying as she holds Cooper at the vet.
In another photo, a devastated Ryan can be seen cuddling his dog one final time.
“I didn’t want to do this segment, we talk about toxic masculinity all the time, blokes should be sharing their feelings in and in the current climate we are in at the moment we should be doing this quite a bit,” Ryan said.
(Image: Instagram)Fitzy’s upload was quickly flooded with well wishes from A-list names.
“So sorry to hear! Sending you all love,” new mum Jasmine Yarbrough wrote.
“Oh mate. I’m so sorry. It’s a loss that always hits you harder than you ever expect. Hope you and the family are doing ok,” Dr Chris Brown agreed.
“Know the feeling well mate. Sorry,” Home And Away actor Cameron Daddo added.
Cooper passed away at 13 following a battle with stomach cancer.
(Image: Instagram)
