My wife is NEVER COMING BACK

Gill Cardall was the life of her family. Here, her husband, Dominic, explains the heartbreak of having to watch the woman he loves disappear

- EMMA ROSSITER, SOPHIE NORRIS

I have often heard men describe their wives as their ‘better half’, and for me, this couldn’t be more fitting. My wife, Gill, was the effervescent soul people flocked to at parties, she was the one who organized our family, a confidant, and support. But in the last few years, the woman I know and adore has started to fade away, and though I’ll love her forever, there’s nothing I can do.

Gill and I met at a work Christmas party back in 1984. We both worked in the Navy, Gill, 22, as an officer’s assistant, me, 21, as a fuel engineer. It sounds like a cliche, but it was as close as you can get to love at first sight. I instantly fell for her infectious personality – she was always making jokes, everyone loved her – and her boundless energy. We wrote letters while I was on deployment, and two years later, in August 1986, we became husband and wife.

After deciding to leave the Navy, we bought a house in Plymouth, and our daughter, Emily, was born in 1989, followed by Georgia in 1993. Though I may have felt apprehensive about becoming a dad, Gill was a natural, guiding me along our journey through parenthood.

She made everything look so easy, from dealing with tantrums to organizing street parties. And when it came to birthdays and Christmases, each one was more magical than the last. She was a super mum.

That's why, in 2015, I knew something was wrong. Gill, then 51, became muddled over words and phrases and she didn’t seem like herself. Back from a holiday that May, she asked me to get her bag from the car. Only, instead of using the word ‘car’, she repeatedly said ‘carton’. At first, I’d thought she was joking. ‘What are you on about?’ I laughed. But she was adamant she was right, that the word was ‘carton’ and not ‘car’.