SHE TOLD ME MY SON HAD DIED JUST 33 MINUTES AFTER HE WAS BORN .
SHE TOLD ME MY SON HAD DIED JUST 33 MINUTES AFTER HE WAS BORN .
happened ? She told me my son had died just 33 minutes after he was born . We named him Leigh Christopher and he was born 6lb 7oz on 12 th September 1984 . He shouldn ’ t have died , but he did . They put me in a private ward with three other women who were aged in their 50s or 60s . The curtains were drawn around me , and I remember there were a lot of flowers coming and going . My mother visited briefly .
I went home and packed up the nursery . I cried on the floor . Brad went back to work and life carried on . Our son was buried in the babies ’ cemetery in Fawkner . I have pictures of him and we take flowers out there .
Seven months later , on Easter Sunday , I married Brad . The church was filled with people . Unfortunately , my Nan ( Elsie ) didn ’ t look herself .
Six weeks later she was diagnosed with cancer . She knew she was sick before we married but held off on the diagnosis until after the wedding . At the same time I found out I was pregnant again . Baby number two was due on 25 December 1985 . I went with both my Nan and my Granddad to chemotherapy .
Several months later , in August , I received a phone call from my mother telling me that her father Harry , was in hospital with cancer . He was dying . The next day I got in the car and went to see him . He smiled at me and at my pregnant belly . I left the room and he died five minutes later . I ’ ve always felt like he held off to see me .
Seven weeks later my Nan ’ s health deteriorated to the point that she too was placed in hospital . I went and saw her on the Thursday , and I remember her placing her hands on my belly . On Saturday my granddad rang and said to remember her the way she was , and she died later that night on 12 th October 1985 . I was aged 20 at the time .
On 12 th December I gave birth by caesarian to Christopher Leigh , 8lb 8oz . I felt happy yet sad that my Nan and mum ’ s dad , who ’ d experienced so much loss and pain in their life , did not get to see their great grandchild .
The years went by and Brad and I had two more children . When I was about ten weeks pregnant with my youngest , my granddad was told he had cancer and had just a few months to live . So everyday I drove an hour to and from his house to see him . My youngest daughter was born while my granddad was still alive I ’ m so glad he got to meet her .
Eighteen months later he passed away . I discovered that he wasn ’ t even the biological father of my father or uncle . My grandma had been married previously ; what a courageous and beautiful person to take on somebody else ’ s two sons and raise them as his own , knowing the physiological and mental problems they had .
My grandparents had such an enormous capacity to love .
After my granddad died I was left with the aftermath of an unstable uncle , who was living in my grandfather ’ s house . The house still contained every possession I had from my childhood , so I endured months of stress , anger and verbal violence .
In the end I walked away from everything . To this day I still don ’ t know what happened to my childhood pictures , school photos , my books that I would have liked to have passed on to my children , pictures of my grandparents – I have nothing from those days , other than my memories . Despite what was stipulated in my granddad ’ s Will , the house was passed on to my uncle . I didn ’ t contest his actions . I have memories and I don ’ t need anything else .
It was at this stage that I joined a gym with my friend Andrea , after seeing a deal on a shopper docket .
My youngest was now around two years old and I didn ’ t want to return to my old job so when the time came for me to go back to work , I decided to do a fitness instructor ’ s course . I remember turning up on the first day and wanting to go home at lunchtime because I was really struggling with it all ; I mean I never even finished year nine , and here I was in my mid 30s trying to be back in school .
FROM SURVIVING TO THRIVING : THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MEL TEMPEST 5