Jamie Dornan Opens Up About Losing His Mother To Pancreatic Cancer

Jamie Dornan has opened up about the grieving process, discussing the pain of losing his mother to pancreatic cancer 20 years ago.

Talking in an interview with BBC Northern Ireland, the 36 year old star of the wildly successful Fifty Shades film franchise spoke about the effect that the diagnosis of his mother Lorna with cancer when he was 14 years old, and her death when he was 16, had had upon his life.

“There has been no bigger impact in my life than the death of my mother,” Dornan told the interviewer. He believes that his accomplishments, including two daughters of his own from his marriage to Amelia Warner, will never quite fill that absence.

Jamie Dornan opened up about losing his mother to pancreatic cancer

“You never get over it and now that I have kids myself I see they don't have a grandmother from my side - that's an odd thing. I often say this but you don't really know what the effects are of losing someone, particularly when you're so young. They are daily and continue to have an effect - you feel that they are manifesting over time in a way you didn't expect them to.”

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The experience has motivated him to get involved with NIPanC, and he was speaking ahead of the launch of the charity this week. He hopes that his fame will bring a higher profile regarding awareness of the disease.

“I've always wanted to be associated to a charity that means something to me in a major way. It all seemed very fitting I could do whatever I can promote awareness of this horrendous disease,” he explained. “A lot of people with very early symptoms of pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed with something much lesser. That could have been the tiny window where something could have been done about it to save them.”

“I feel privileged to play some part in drawing attention to this illness and I feel quite determined to try and help in whatever way I can to change the statistics on this illness.”

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