'Reiki helped me grieve for my son and husband'

Justina has spoken about how therapy has helped her deal with trauma.

A woman whose baby and husband died within four years says holistic and traditional therapy has helped her grieve for them.

In 2019, Justina Frampton lost her nine-month-old son, Leo, to a rare liver disease called biliary atresia and four years later her husband, Victor, died after being involved in a car incident.

"Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, meditation and Reiki have really helped me because I was avoiding dealing with the trauma," Justina says.

She now works as a therapist in Dorset and has hosted her first holistic festival.

At 11 weeks Leo was diagnosed with the condition - it occurs when the ducts that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder do not develop properly and are blocked.

"I was 39 when I lost Leo. When he first got sick, I thought it was bug so I called 111 and they just said to keep an eye on him," she explains.

"But he was sick again so I took him to hospital and they ended up putting him on life support."

Over the next few months Justina, Victor and Leo would spend time in a number of different hospitals undergoing tests to find out what was wrong.

Justina lost her husband and son in the space of four years.

Leo was diagnosed at Oxford Children's hospital but was sent to King's College shortly after.

His small intestine was looped to his liver to help the bile flow through but that did not work and Leo was put on the liver transplant list.

"At the time I was just going along with it but not really understanding what is going on and you have this hope because you don't want to believe what is happening," Justina says.

But Leo died on 22 November 2019 after his liver started to fail.

Justina says it was a traumatic experience because he was taken to London in a helicopter: "I had to go in a taxi and the whole time I was just thinking, what is going on.

"Weirdly the taxi driver had had a child who had passed away and he said I will need to prepare myself.

"Maybe that taxi driver was there because I needed to hear it because I was avoiding what happened."

Four years later she says her husband Victor was taken to hospital after a car incident: "He was in hospital for so long because he had a heart attack but then his brain was impacted because of a lack of oxygen.

"He was fighting because that is what he was like and then my sister said to me one day, 'you know he is waiting for you to say that you are OK so he can go'.

"So, I said to him 'I am going to be absolutely fine, don't worry you go and look after our boy'."

The next morning Victor passed away, something that Justina says she knew was going to happen: "I was asleep, I woke up and I got there just in time to hold his hands as he took his last breaths, even though it was very, very sad it was also an honour to be there for him."

'Healing journey'

At first Justina felt like she could not talk about what had happened with her family or friends.

But says that through Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Reiki and meditation work she opened up: "After Leo died is when I went on a Reiki course and I came away from it with a different way of thinking.

"It has helped me through this journey and made me realise that it is time to be more authentic and open about what has happened to me because it is my story.

"We hold on to trauma and emotion so having a moment to reflect helps us let go."

On Sunday Justina hosted her first holistic festival at Moreton Village Hall in Dorset and says she hopes to help other people that are dealing with past traumas.