Brendan O’Carroll has opened up about the moment his older sister, Fiona, died in his arms.
Back in March, the Mrs Brown’s Boys creator rushed to Canada to be by her side, after he received a worrying message from Fiona’s husband Larry.
The 72-year-old had been suffering from Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and had contracted pneumonia.
Speaking to the Irish Sun, the actor said: “I’d already booked a flight to go up and see Fiona in Toronto on March 8 — but Larry told us not to leave it that late.”
“I immediately booked a flight that night to Toronto. We flew right through the night.”
“Eventually we got to her house. Larry her husband, met me in the hallway and warned me not to expect too much because she had been out of it,” he explained.
“So I go in to see her and within minutes of me arriving, Fiona is laughing her head off, and we’re singing ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’ together.”
“We laughed, we told stories, then her nurse arrived so I went into the kitchen for a coffee with Larry, who I was concerned about too.”
“I said to Larry, ‘What happens now?’ He said that Fiona would probably have a sleep after the nurse left. So I went back in after the nurse left, to tell her I was going to head to the hotel and drop my bags off.
“Fiona nodded, and then I took her hand. We had this little ritual where I would say ‘I love you’ and she would reply ‘I love you more’ and then I’d say ‘I love you the most’.”
“But this time Fiona said ‘I love you the most, forever and ever’ and then she died.”
Brendan continued: “I wouldn’t regard myself as a Bible-thumping Catholic but I do believe in life after death.”
“I firmly believe I’m going to see Fiona again, and my mother and my son. If I didn’t believe that I would shoot myself. What’s the point?”
Brendan’s son, who was named after him, died from spina bifida back in 1979, just days after his birth.
