Anil, 63, and Clare, 54, met in 2014 at a support group for bereaved parents. They split their time between south Gloucestershire and Surrey
In January 2014, Anil was left devastated when his eldest son, Wesley, died in a motorbike accident. “I went into shock; it was all a blur,” he says. “People were kind and tried to help, but I was in a massive pit of grief that I couldn’t get out of.” That summer, he joined a group for bereaved parents. “It was really helpful. It felt like the only place you could be yourself and didn’t have to put on a brave face.”
At the group, he met Clare, who had also lost her son, Matthew, in a motorbike accident. “The group became a lifeline for me,” she says. “At the first meeting I went to, the group leaders told me about Anil, because he had lost his son in such similar circumstances. We met at the next meeting.”