EARLIER THIS WEEK, Jamie Dornan spoke at the launch of NIPanC – a group dedicated to working alongside Pancreatic Cancer Action and Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund.
Thrilled to be pictured with Jamie Dornan, Patron of NIPanC #PancreaticCancer pic.twitter.com/ECJD1QWL3b
— Maura McClean (@MccleanMaura) August 1, 2018
Drawing on his own experience of the disease and the impact it has on families, the actor spoke of losing his own mother, Lorna, in 1998.
Lorna was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer when Jamie was 14 and two years later she lost her battle with the illness.
Speaking to PA, Jamie said Lorna’s untimely death has altered his perception of his teenage years.
I look back on that time and see it in a very blurry way. I was very young, I was 14 when my mum got diagnosed and had just turned 16 when she died. Every kid at that age is naive, I felt like I was particularly young and naive at that time.
Now 36, Jamie said his mother’s death continues to affect him in myriad ways which he ‘wouldn’t wish on anyone’.
The father-of-two thinks it impacted him on both a conscious and subconscious level.
I was a wee bit behind compared to my mates growing up, but I had to grow up pretty fast after that. It has an ever-evolving effect on me, that loss, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I feel like every single day it has an effect on me in ways which I am aware of and some ways I think I am not aware of.
Speaking to UTV, Jamie said he marked his mother’s anniversary by sharing memories of her with his family, but acknowledges that it’s important to do this on a regular basis rather than waiting for a specific date.
One of my sisters flew over from England over here and we went out for dinner and we were all trying to trade stories about mum and reminisce in an appropriate way. It’s a nice thing to do that because it enables you to remember more than you think you know. And we should probably do that more often rather than every twenty years.
Jamie’s mother wasn’t there to witness her son’s ascent to stardom – something the actor says she would have thoroughly enjoyed.
Describing her as a ‘very glamorous person’, Jamie said Lorna would have appreciated the high-profile aspect of her son’s life in Hollywood.
I would have been able to take her to LA, and go to premieres and that sort of stuff – it’s all the stuff I hate about the job funnily enough. The stuff I can’t stand but my mum would have loved it.
He added:
She would have been very tickled by the fact I make a career out of this weird thing that I do. Hopefully there is some world where she has an awareness of it.
Now a patron of NIPanC, Jamie stresses the importance of such a group, adding that his family would have benefitted from hearing from other families during his mother’s illness.
