In the latest episode of On the Marie Curie Couch, bereavement expert Jason Davidson meets Dan Hudson.
Radio producer and presenter Dan is best known as one half of A Gay And A NonGay, the UK's biggest LGBTQ+ podcast, which he presents alongside his friend James Barr. In this episode of On the Marie Curie Couch, Dan chats to Jason about his mum Gillian, who died at the Marie Curie Hospice, West Midlands, in March 2022.
Raising money
"I realised people were going to say to me, 'Oh, if there's anything can do...' I've always hated that, but you can't stop people. So I thought, if they're going to say it to me, I'm going to reply: 'Yes, there is something you can do. Here's the link for my marathon fundraising. I'm raising money for Marie Curie.' And almost everybody did."
The afterlife
"In the Marie Curie Hospice, there's a really nice story on the wall. There are some caterpillars about to turn into butterflies and one says to the other, 'I'll let you know what it's like when I get there,' then when he turns into a butterfly, he realises he can't tell them. But the caterpillar he's chatting to will know soon enough for themselves."
"I didn't do a eulogy per se, I did a stand-up routine, essentially, about my mum. I think that's closer to what she would have wanted. Then we played Diana Ross' A Mother's Love, which was the song that my mum had requested to be played at her mum's funeral."
Listen now
Tap the link near the top of this page to listen to Dan's chat with Jason. Alternatively, listen to or download it via Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd prefer, you can read a full transcript of the episode.
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Content note: discussion of death and grief with reference to themes/topics that might be triggering or upsetting.
