‘My husband helped me find my new man before he died’

A woman has revealed her terminally ill husband helped her find a new man before he died – with her new fella getting the ultimate tick of approval.

A heartbroken wife has revealed dying husband encouraged her to find love again before he passed – and even helped her meet her new man.

Deirdre Fagan was heartbroken to learn her husband Bob was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — a terminal progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

Bob was just 43-years-old when he was diagnosed and given less than a year to live, the NY Post reports.

His health quickly deteriorated, sending Deirdre spiralling – but as she struggled to imagine life without Bob, he was already thinking of her future.

“I loved him so much and he was so central to my life and always will be, so it made me sad that he would just be a story for somebody else, and they could never know him themselves,” she told the publication.

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Deirdre Fagan was heartbroken when her husband Bob was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Picture: Instagram/Deirdre_Fagan

Bob was Deirdre’s third husband but her first true love. The two met while earning their graduate degrees at the University of Albany and went on to have two children.

The couple has been married for nearly a decade when Bob was given his deadly diagnosis in 2011.

“It was as though somebody pulled up in the driveway and said he’d been killed in an accident. I mean, the news hits you in the same way,” Deirdre, whose brother and father died in a car crash, explained.

Distressed, Deirdre lost her appetite, turning to alcohol and cigarettes as she spent her days crying and planning for life without her husband.

After four months, the halfway point between Bob’s diagnosis and death, Deirdre finally began to move past her “deepest denial” and accept her future.

Bob’s symptoms were worsening with his fine motor skills and energy declining and his speech straining and slurring.

It was Bob who suggested that she begin her search for a new partner while he was still around.

“You have always been happier in a relationship than not in one. I want that for you again, and for the kids,” he said, Deirdre told Newsweek.

“You deserve love in your life, and so do they.”

She began to fall in love with her co-worker Dave while Bob was still alive – with his blessing. Picture: Instagram/Deirdre_Fagan

As Deirdre opened up to the idea, she began to fall in love with her co-worker Dave.

The two grew close at a colleague’s dinner party and continued to spend more time together at the school where they both taught and at her house as he helped with household chores and caregiving duties.

“Dave was great with the kids. He let our four-year-old daughter draw smiley faces on his knees, and he fixed our son’s bicycle,” she said.

“He helped in concrete ways and fixed various things in our home to make our lives easier. He even installed a ramp in our kitchen for Bob’s wheelchair.”

Dave grew close to the family and connected with Bob, but he had an obvious spark with Deirdre.

Despite Deirdre’s worries, Bob wasn’t jealous. He encouraged his wife’s growing feelings for their friend.

“Dave was now a private joke between us,” Deirdre said.

Dave understood the delicate situation and was never deterred by Deirdre’s love for Bob. In fact, he later admitted it was one of the reasons he fell in love with her.

“Dave knew that if I could love Bob like that, I could love like that. And I now love him like that,” Deirdre said toInsider.

She describes Bob as the first love of her life. Picture: Instagram/Deirdre_Fagan

And Dave as the second. Picture: Instagram/Deirdre_Fagan

When the family surrounded Bob for his final moments in October 2012, Deirdre and Bob’s young son was the one who suggested Dave join the sombre gathering. He was in the room when Bob passed away.

Dave checked in on the family every day the week after the loving husband and father died. He hung out with the family bringing comfort to Deirdre and her children as they mourned their loss.

Deirdre and Bob finally shared their first kiss and they naturally grew closer after Bob’s passing.

“Bob was the first love of my life; Dave is the second,” she told Newsweek.

They couple have been married for more than seven years and together for 10, with Deirdre telling her unique love story in her upcoming memoir “Find a Place for Me”.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission