Afterlives: Harry and Anne

Two parents share their stories of life’s pain - but also its unexpected gifts - after the death of their sons, who each took their own life. They have never met but Afterlives brings them together for the first time to examine and interrogate their journeys since their sons’ suicides. Patrick Biggs-Davison was 25 when he died by suicide in 2015. His father Harry describes his beautiful son with the magnetic personality who learnt about failure at a young age and, after struggling with drug addiction for half his life, decided that he didn’t want to go on living. Anne Thorn lost her only child to suicide in 2011. He was 23. Since his death, she has been to university and trekked across the Sahara and, while she cannot understand how life has gone on, feels she deserves a medal for embracing life – in memory of her son Toby. Neither leave you with any doubt about the heart-breaking experience of losing a child in this way, or the legacy of pain and guilt it leaves. But through this conversation – where they simply share their stories and ask about each other’s journey – hope emerges. Both are passionate about raising awareness of the prevalence of suicide – especially among young men. But both also, through their brokenness and survival, talk of the courage it has given them and how life goes on. Producer: Anna Scott-Brown An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4