Brian Dowling has shared an awful message he received from an online troll about his mother’s death.
The TV presenter’s mother Rosaleen sadly passed away back in 2018, leaving Brian and his family heartbroken.
Since then, the Big Brother star has been praised for opening up about grief on social media, and he’s also discussed loss on his hit podcast series, Death Becomes Him.
Sadly, Brian’s openness about grief has also attracted some negative attention, as he received a horrible message about his mother’s passing on Instagram this week.
Taking to his Instagram Story, the 42-year-old shared a screenshot of the message, which read: “Yea Brian I’m sorry that you lost your mother but you don’t need to make it out that your the only person that has lost there mother.”
Reacting to their message, Brian wrote: “I’ve ALWAYS said & FULLY BELIEVE Instagram is a FABULOUS warm place full of POSITIVITY & LOVE.”
“I’m also not usually triggered by negative s**t or nasty comments I get as it’s part & parcel of doing the job I love doing & freely putting myself & my life out there.”
“Getting this message recently really struck a chord with me for many reasons,” Brian confessed.
“I’ve openly talked about the sad & tragic passing of our mum & even do a podcast Death Becomes Him about death/loss/grief. I’ve not always been able to talk so publicly about my grief but I can now & it is 100% my right to do so.”
“No one should ever ever tell anyone how to grieve & there SHOULD NEVER EVER be a time limit on anyone’s grief.”
“I fully believe I’ve handled this HORRENDOUS journey with strength & courage as honestly some days I couldn’t even get out of the bed. Anything NEGATIVE that comes my way with my mum referenced I just CAN’T & won’t allow IT,” he added.
Hours later, the presenter took to his Instagram Story again to thank his followers for sending him such kind messages.
Brian said: “Thank you all so much for your lovely messages regarding that post I put up with that person’s lovely comment.”
“I have been asked why I didn’t name the person, there’s really no point. And also I thought if someone is sending me that message, they’re definitely struggling with something.”
“I actually wasn’t going to post it because I was embarrassed, I don’t know why, but I thought oh no I won’t.”
“And then I did, and then you feel bad for the other person, its a very weird thing…”
“But yes, moving on, I shall talk about my mum, my loss, my grief, at any point I want on my Instagram. And thankfully you all agree with me,” he added.
