Gemma Atkinson details daughter’s grief battle after pet’s death
Gemma Atkinson has been sharing an insight into dealing with her daughter’s battle with grief following the death of their pet dog.
The former Hollyoaks actress shares five-year-old Mia with her fiancé, Strictly Come Dancing pro Gorka Marquez. The couple are also parents to a one-year-old son named Thiago.
At the end of June, Gemma announced the heartbreaking news that the family’s dog Norman had passed away after she had him in her life for 12 years.
Gemma has now revealed that Mia is ‘still thinking about him a lot more than she realised’, and opened up about helping her little one manage her grief.
On her Instagram Stories, Gemma shared a video to her 2M Instagram followers of Mia playing with Play Doh this morning.
Adding text to the clip, she explained, “Mia woke this morning & came down crying saying she dreamt about Norman & it made her tummy funny and she misses him”.
“It was 6 weeks last weekend when he passed away, we speak about him a lot but obviously she's still thinking about him a lot more than I realised”.
“We sat and looked through his memory box and we've decided to make him out of play Doh this morning”.
Gemma went on to admit, “I've never had to help a child through grief before so it's all so new to me as well”.
The 39-year-old then posted a snippet of her and Mia out for a walk, where they found white feathers on the ground.
“First thing we see on our walk. White feathers. Thanks norm”, Gemma penned.
When announcing Norman’s tragic death earlier this summer, Gemma spoke about the impact it would have on her daughter’s life.
At the time she said, “And of course I’m beyond sad for Mia. Normans woken her up by going into her room and pinching her Snuggie almost everyday of her life. She’s never known him or Ollie to not be here. Her first best friend. And so close to her 5th Birthday”.
