After a tragic accident killed her husband, Jason, while she was pregnant with her third child, Jessica Haslem, 27, has opened up about the struggles she’s faced as a full-time mum with three kids.
Her two boys, Toby, six, and George, three, got to know their dad before he was tragically electrocuted in an accident, but her one-year-old boy Barnaby will never know him.
In August 2014, the two went to their 12-week pregnancy scan of Barnaby and were beyond excited.
Two days later, he called to say he’d be home late as he had stay back at work – he was a commercial catering engineer at a school.
Later in the night, Jessica knew something was wrong when he hadn’t called. She said he always rings to say goodnight to his sons if he missed their bedtime.
Then she got a call at 9pm, but not from her husband. It was the police.
Jason died almost instantly after he was electrocuted by a cooker he was fixing.
Jessica was in shock and felt the overwhelming feeling of grief and loss when she viewed her husband’s body at the mortuary.
She then had to tell her two boys which was extraordinarily difficult, but they were too young to take it in.
His funeral was full of 350 friends and loved ones, and was a celebration of his life with everyone wearing bright colours.
Jessica said that after his death, her dad and sister stayed with her and the kids to help them get through.
Grief-counselling helped her but the thought of being a single mum-of-three was an overwhelming.
She told The Sun: “I was on autopilot, looking after the boys and seeing the midwife. But at night, I
sobbed in despair.”
“The thought of being a single mum of three was overwhelming.”
When she found out the sex of her unborn child, she “wept with happiness that it was another boy, as Jason would have been so chuffed to have three sons.”
Jessica said that when she gave birth to Barnaby, she felt Jason was watching over her.
“As he lay on my chest, I whispered how much Daddy loved him,” she said.
Jessica is part of a charity group called Widowed & Young to connect with others in similar circumstances, and said that the support has been invaluable.
She said: “I can’t even think about whether I’d like to meet someone else one day – for now the three boys are my focus.
I’ll make sure they never forget the daddy who loved them so much.”
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