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Loose Women panellist Brenda Edwards, 53, has spoken exclusively to Express.co.uk about how she might mark the anniversary of her late son Jamal Edwards’ death, after the DJ and music entrepreneur died last February. In a wider interview about a new campaign to roll out more than 200 defibrillators across O2 stores in the UK in partnership with British Heart Foundation, the ITV star spoke about how she would be remembering her son and keeping his legacy alive.
Jamal, who died from a cardiac arrhythmia on February 20 last year, helped launch the careers of many musicians through his platform SBTV and was awarded an MBE for his contribution to the music industry.
“You know, from my perspective, I just literally take each day as it comes and don’t really make any plans for anything,” Brenda explained.
“I know the anniversary is coming up and it would be nice to do something,” she continued.
“There’s so many different options of things to do. I don’t really know which one I’m going to go with until it comes to the day, probably.
“And then if I want to not do anything and I just want to stay at home and look at pictures of him, then that’s exactly what I’ll do.
“I’m not really tying myself down and saying, ‘This is what I’m going to do,’” Brenda added.
“But it would be nice to celebrate his life in some way and to celebrate the fact that we’re keeping the legacy alive.”
Asked how her family is coping one year on from the tragic death of her 31-year-old son, Brenda admitted that it was “hard” but credited her loved ones with helping her to stay strong.
“We are taking each day as it comes,” Brenda said. “It’s very hard, it’s very difficult.
“I don’t think there’s a day that goes past that I don’t turn my head and think he’s coming around the corner.
“You know, that side of it is really, really hard,” the presenter continued. “But I’m really fortunate that I’ve got a loving family.
“And some absolutely amazing family friends who have been there step by step with me and just supporting myself in Tanisha through this.”
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Two weeks ago, Brenda’s daughter Tanisha and the SBTV team relaunched Jamal’s channel in his honour, featuring a song from his friend Ed Sheeran.
Ahead of the launch, Brenda went on to talk about how she, Tanisha and the SBTV team would be “keeping Jamal’s legacy alive tonight”.
“It’s about continuing to help people, especially young people, with the trust and to help to raise mental health awareness,” she confirmed.
“We want to try to help young people to believe in themselves that they can achieve what they put their mind to.
“Hence why the trust was called ‘The Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust’,” she said in reference to the charity set up in Jamal’s name.
Virgin Media O2 has rolled out defibrillators to all company owned stores across the UK – greatly increasing access to life-saving equipment on hundreds of High Streets in partnership with the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
More than 200 defibrillators are now available and Virgin Media O2 is in the process of registering them on BHF’s National Defibrillator Network, The Circuit, meaning 999 call handlers will be able to quickly direct people to nearby stores in an emergency.
Brenda Edwards visits Virgin Media O2 as it partners with British Heart Foundation to rollout more than 200 defibrillators across O2 stores in the UK. From 19th Jan to 26th Jan, the business raised awareness and urged more people to learn CPR on screens outside O2 stores nationwide.
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