IN LOVE WITH TWO MEN

When her beloved husband died Peta O'Brien-Day, 41, was given a second chance at happiness

- RACHEL TOMPKINS, KATE GRAHAM

With the bleeping of a machine echoing beside us, I clutched my husband Mark's hand. Lying in a hospital bed, he was weak and drained, but still my incredible, loving husband.

Looking me in my eyes, as he took a deep breath to speak.

'At some point you'll meet someone else and that's OK...' he said.

I broke him off before he could say any more.

The truth was I didn't want to think about it. We were still in a place where we were trying to get through this together. The last thing on my mind was finding love again.

Ever since we'd met at university in 2005, he'd been the only man for me.

Kind, funny and so compassionate, I had no doubt that he was my future. We married in July 2008 and welcomed our son Ethan in March 2012. Mark was an incredible dad, spending hours playing his guitar to Ethan and singing Ho Hey by The Lumineers, as well as songs by the Beatles, Oasis and Manic Street Preachers. Everything was perfect. But that's the thing about life - it has a way of throwing you off course when you least expect it. And now, here we were in October 2014, discussing a very different future to the one we'd planned.

CRUEL BLOW