Samuel Johnson has revealed he is still struggling to cope with the aftermath of his sister’s death, seven years on.
Connie Johnson, a mother of two, lost her long battle with cancer in September 2017.
The 46-year-old tells new SBS series The Hospital: In the Deep End that he doesn’t remember his sister not being sick, after being diagnosed with bone cancer at age 11, before uterine cancer at age 11. 22, before her death at age 33 from breast cancer.
“Dad and Connie came home in Dad’s blue Torana and I knew something was up,” he said of the moment he found out Connie was sick.
‘Dad said, “He has a tumor.” And I didn’t know what a tumor was. Then, little by little, I knew it was cancer.”
Samuel Johnson (pictured) has revealed he is still struggling to cope with the aftermath of his sister’s death, seven years on.
He continued: ‘She fell ill with cancer when she was 11 years old in her leg, when she was 22 years old in her uterus and when she was 33 years old in her chest. And then she spread and she died, with two little children.
‘So I don’t remember my sister not having cancer. She is my dear sister, who took all the bullets and, for some reason, I am blameless so far.
Sam previously spoke about the pain he still felt from losing his beloved brother.
“I can’t just recover from burying her and move on blindly,” said an emotional Samuel. 9honey.
Connie Johnson, mother of two, lost her long battle with cancer in September 2017. Pictured together
‘I don’t remember my sister not having cancer. She is my dear sister who took all the bullets and for some reason I am blameless until now,’ she said.
In 2012, the siblings launched the charity Love Your Sister, which has since raised millions in the fight against cancer.
Sam is still working hard to raise funds for Love Your Sister, but confessed it hasn’t been easy without Connie by his side.
‘My head just hasn’t been in the game. There were a lot of things that she left me that I had to make sense of,” she explained.
“Now that I don’t have her to help guide this, I had to do all my homework and make sure we did it right for her.”
Connie was married for 13 years to her husband Mike, with whom she shared two sons, Willoughby, 18, and Hamilton, 17.
Sam told him 9honey that the children have been remarkably resilient after their mother’s death.
He said: ‘Children finally have a childhood to enjoy. They never knew what it was like to be a child because their mother was sick for as long as they could remember. The pain of her leaving is there, but the pain of seeing her so sick is also gone.’
Samuel also stated that his brother-in-law Mike “makes the kids proud” with his strength.
