Charlie McGettigan, the Eurovision legend, opens up about the tragic loss of his son Shane in 1998 and how it strengthened his bond with his wife Goretti. He shares his coping mechanisms and the enduring impact of Shane's memory.
Eurovision legend Charlie McGettigan has said the tragic death of his son made him closer with his wife – saying they still have pictures everywhere of their son. McGettigan and his wife Goretti lost their son Shane in 1998 when he was killed in an accident on a construction site in Boston. He was 21. Speaking to Sunday Independent’s Life magazine, McGettigan said: ‘You never get over it, but you learn to live with it.
READ MORE: Eurovision legends Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan reunite 30 years after winning song contest READ MORE: Former Eurovision winner Charlie McGettigan joins calls for Ireland to boycott 2018 song contest in Israel ‘I kind of use the analogy that if you lost an arm or a leg, it's gone, but you have to get used to it. You have to live with it, with that thing. And you first of all can't accept it. We were sort of saying, ‘He's going to walk in the door any minute. For about six months, you'd have bouts of crying. ‘I was back at work, somebody walked in the door seeing I was sobbing, then I didn't know what to do. I was particularly vulnerable because in the music business, you're travelling a lot at night on your own, and you have too much time to think. “Initially, when it happens, you're dealing with the arrangements, the funeral, and all the people coming to the house, blah, blah, blah... That keeps you going. We had a great family, and a great GAA family; he played for the Leitrim senior football team. They were a big consolation.' He didn't go for counselling. ‘I've been told that this thing can break up a marriage, but it actually drew us together a lot more. We were able to deal with it ourselves, console one another. But still, it's this imagination of a box, and the whole Shane scenario is in that box. Sometimes, both of us will open it up and we'll start talking. His pictures are everywher
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