A very special BOND

Through tragedy and heartache, two women forged a friendship like no other

- FRANCES LEATE, LUCY LAING

Reflecting back on the darkest days of her life, Natalie Hawkridge is reminded of the moments when she didn’t know if or how she could keep going. As a mother, she went through the worst imaginable nightmare when she and her husband, Michael, now 68, lost their eight-year-old son, Sam.

Through the heartache, Natalie found comfort talking about Sam and keeping his memory alive, but it wasn’t always easy and often, she felt like a burden. So when Natalie met Sue, a mother who had also lost her precious son, the pair formed a friendship like no other.

‘The pain of being a bereaved mother can be isolating, and people don’t know what to say,’ says 63-year-old Natalie, from Derby. ‘It’s not their fault — you have no idea how it feels unless you've been through it — but all I wanted was to talk about Sam.’ It was October 2004, after a family trip to Blackpool with Sam, who had autism, and their younger son, Phillip, then four, when Natalie and Michael's world fell apart.

‘We had a lovely holiday, enjoying the fair rides and arcades. Every night, Sam insisted we walk the long way back to the hotel just so he could see the Thunderbirds model on the beach,’ Natalie smiles.