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Jo Whiley became emotional as she opened up about helping her younger sister Frances navigate the death of their father, Martin.
The BBC Radio 2 presenter announced on Tuesday that her father had died, just weeks after speaking publicly about his Parkinson's disease diagnosis.
Appearing on her Dig It podcast with Zoe Ball on Wednesday, Whiley reflected on how her family had been coping with their loss, including supporting her sister Frances, who has Cri du Chat syndrome, a rare genetic condition that causes severe learning disabilities and developmental delays.
Whiley said Frances, who also has diabetes, had shown remarkable understanding throughout their father's final days.
“Frances has been extraordinary and she completely understands what is going on,” she said.
“She knows that he's not going to get better. She just keeps saying, ‘Not going to die?’ And instead of sugarcoating it you just have to say, ‘Well, he is not going to come home.’”
She explained that their mother, a devout Christian, had told Frances that their father was “going to Jesus”, helping her make sense of what was happening.
Despite the heartbreak, Whiley said there was one moment the family will always treasure.
“There was this really lovely moment when she was leaving the other day and it was when he was on the cusp of consciousness,” she recalled.
“She was going, ‘Say my name, say my name!’ And he actually said the word ‘Frances’.”
An emotional Ball replied: “Oh wow.”
“It was lovely, it was really good,” Whiley said. “She keeps saying, ‘Daddy said my name!’ It couldn't have been better.”
Whiley announced her father's death on Instagram on Tuesday, sharing a collection of family photographs and videos celebrating his life.
Last year, Whiley spoke for the first time about her dad being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease
“We had been suspecting something was going on with my dad for a while, so it was good to get a diagnosis, and now we’re trying to make sense of it all. It’s really early days, and he’s quite confused about it,” she told Woman and Home magazine.
“Something like that puts everything in perspective and stops you from worrying about rubbish. Everyone will be dealing with those things in real life. That’s the reality of being my age; that you end up having more people to look after and more responsibilities.”
Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease in which the brain becomes more and more damaged over the years, with symptoms including the involuntary shaking of body parts, slowed movement and mobility issues.
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