‘Grief is just so cruel’: Robin Bailey’s emotional tribute three years after tragedy

Brisbane radio host Robin Bailey has spoken out about the grief she’s still experiencing three years after the tragic death of her husband.

A Brisbane radio host who has suffered one unimaginable heartbreak after another has opened up about her grief in a lengthy social media post.

Robin Bailey, an integral member of 97.3 FM’s Brisbane breakfast team, posted a tribute to mark three years since the tragic loss of her second husband, Sean Pickwell, to liver cancer in September, 2019.

Robin Bailey and Sean Pickwell on their wedding day.

“How’s it been three years?” she wrote.

“I can’t actually fathom it but I’ve felt every day of it.

“Grief is just so cruel as I think the last year has been the hardest.

Ms Bailey went on to describe the emotions each passing year had brought, including the painful moment when she realised she had to move on.

Robin Bailey and her husband, Sean Pickwell.

“Year 1 was living through the shock and devastation, getting through all the firsts,” she reflected.

“Year 2 was trying to make sense of it all.

“But year 3 is realising you have to move on even though you don’t want to. Even though you were so excited about your old life. It stopped and now you have to build another one.”

“I’ve found this the toughest!”

Ms Bailey concluded her post with a simple, but poignant message: “Cancer is such a b*tch!”

Mr Pickwell, was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2017, and in the days leading up to his death in 2019, spent time reflecting on the “wonderful bits” of his life, including the deep connections he had built with his wife and children.

The couple made the decision to stop treatment shortly before his death to prioritise his quality of life, with Mr Pickwell telling The Sunday Mail the period had brought some of the happiest days of his life.

Robin Bailey. Picture: Jared Vethaak

“That wasn’t living,” Pickwell said. “What I’ve been able to do in that acceptance is live even more than I ever have before in my life. I came home and would literally stop every single day and think ‘I’m so grateful’.”

“(At home) everyone has just lifted and we’ve connected and bonded and it has been some of the happiest days of my life.”

Ms Bailey lost Tony Smart, her first husband and father to her three sons – Fin, Lewin, and Piper– to suicide in 2014.