A mum of 4 who lost her husband to an aggressive brain tumour last summer was “left in survival mode”.
After meeting self-made entrepreneur Gunnar when she was 21, Diana Nilsson committed herself to him – the two of them raised 4 children together, aged 5, 8, 10 and 12 – and created a “tight family unit”. Diana committed herself to working on Gunnar’s various business ventures instead of pursuing her own career, despite not being “overly interested” as she felt it was the “right move for the good of the family”.
With no previous health issues, Gunnar was diagnosed with the most aggressive type of brain tumour in 2017, after being initially told that it was inflammation by several doctors. The pair were in disbelief.
“I was partly in denial. We decided we wanted to overcome this and live to the fullest. He was strong and healthy and his friends would tell us if anyone was going to survive this, it would be him”.
Gunnar went through several rounds of treatment and was even in remission for a year.
However, in the summer of 2020 there was a recurrence that wasn’t detected in time, and Diana received a phone call at 5AM informing her that Gunnar’s breathing pattern had changed and she had to get to him ASAP.
She “couldn’t bear” waking her children up, and tried to contact her friends, who weren’t picking up the phone.
“I ran out and jumped on a train. I had a split second to think before it left. I couldn’t leave the children. I jumped out, ran back home, woke them up and took them to school a little earlier. I then ran to the hospital as fast as I could, praying I wasn’t too late”.
Gunnar lost his battle with his brain tumour in September 2020 – in the middle of the second national lockdown. This meant Diana and her children had very limited time with her husband in the hospice.
“I couldn’t even see my family so I felt especially vulnerable. I couldn’t focus for months – it felt like a nightmare. I try to stay upbeat for the children but at times it’s like I’m living a double life”.
After suffering an “identity crisis” and losing herself completely, Diana threw herself into her jewellery business, which had previously been a side project of hers.
Now, Diana runs her business, David&Martin Jewellery, full-time – and is working on a new special collection where half of all proceeds can be donated to brain tumour research – which she feels is “heavily underfunded”.
