'A black whirlpool began to swirl where my heart was': Rob Delaney opens up on death of 2-year-old son Henry
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Catastrophe' star Rob Delaney has revealed the painful struggle of losing his youngest child in his latest book ‘A Heart That Works’. The comedian shares in detail the entire episode and how he still struggles to process it. His two-year-old son Henry was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2016, with a tumor in the back of his head.
Sunday Times published an extract from his book, where Delaney talks about how he got to know about his son’s diagnosis and made him think about his own mortality. “Grief drove a bus through the part of my brain where memories are stored,” the 45-year-old actor said. “After the MRI, Dr Anson confirmed that Henry had a large tumour in the back of his head, near his brain stem.”
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Delaney further said, “He delivered the news calmly, and ended by saying a pediatric brain surgeon would come to see us within a few hours. We sank inside ourselves.” Trying to put his emotions in words, the comedian said, “The heaviest pain in the world. I felt like I had suddenly quadrupled in weight, and an oily, black whirlpool began to swirl where my heart had been.”
Sharing intimate details in his book over that period when the toddler was being readied to be operated on, the parents decided to stay at a hotel nearby. He then revealed that the pair of 18 years had sex twice within a few hours during the "scary" phase.
Delaney also divulged why he wanted to share that detail since many parents have gone through a similar experience and might feel guilty and "hyperventilating with anxiety," reported Daily Mail.
It was the fear and horror that they were going through at that period "manifested in sex" – "even at the worst of times," he explained. The actor further said that they just wanted to be close to each other. The family was having a great time together at home, however, a follow-up MRI scan revealed that cancer has resurfaced in little Henry. The couple was told that the kid has another three to six months.
It was in April, 2021, Delaney posted the picture of his late son and shared that he would have been six today. He shared the image of the boy on Instagram and captioned, “This little boy would've turned 6 the other day. He died of cancer a little bit before his third birthday. If you asked me how I carry on without him I would tell you I don't know.”
In an interview with BBC 4, he shared that he has made peace with his own mortality, “At the very least I'll get to experience something Henry experienced and that's wonderful. That knowledge brings me peace. I won't say I can't wait because I can.”