18: Brave Together Podcast - Jessica Patay, Susanna Peace Lovell and Dr. Zoe Shaw18: Brave Together Podcast - Jessica Patay, Susanna Peace Lovell and Dr. Zoe Shaw
UK Health Radio Podcast
Jessica Patay, Dr Zoe Shaw and Carrie Morin talk about their book *Suddenly Brave Together*, sharing candid experiences of diagnosis, grief, mum guilt and community. The conversation reflects on feeling broken, finding language for complex emotions, and the comfort of real connection for parents of children with disabilities and unique needs.
48:00•20 May 2026
Suddenly Brave Together: Honest Motherhood, Diagnosis Shock and Finding Your People
Episode Overview
- Feeling devastated, angry or ashamed after a child’s diagnosis is normal and deserves space rather than silence.
- Mum guilt is often ‘fake’ guilt; if you haven’t broken your own moral code, you don’t owe that guilt anything.
- Seeing a child first as a person, not a diagnosis, helps shift from ‘fixing’ to genuinely relating and appreciating who they are.
- Community with other caregiver mums reduces isolation, softens self-criticism and normalises difficult emotions.
- Journalling or other forms of emotional ‘purging’ can ease anxiety, process grief and bring buried feelings into the light.
““You are not broken, and your child is not broken… it can be a really sucky life sometimes and we have to honour all of that. But it doesn’t mean that you’re broken.””
What drives someone to seek a life without the illusion of control? This conversation on UK Health Radio’s Brave Together Podcast sits with that raw question as Jessica Patay, Dr Zoe Shaw and contributing writer Carrie Morin talk about their new book, *Suddenly Brave Together*. You’ll hear them talk honestly about that moment when a child’s diagnosis lands and life splits into “before” and “after”.
Carrie shares how her son’s rare genetic condition, epilepsy and brain injury brought “many moments of sudden bravery”, admitting she often wished for a neat, single diagnosis just to feel less lost. Zoe remembers silently thinking, “I’m the wrong mother for this,” while friends offered well-meant but hollow platitudes.
The episode focuses on what it’s really like to parent children with visible and invisible needs: the grief, the constant medical appointments, the sibling guilt, and the cultural loneliness of feeling “tucked away and hidden”. At the same time, there’s a strong thread of solidarity. The book’s 30 letter-style chapters are written mainly for newer mums, but the hosts insist “any parent caregiver is going to benefit”, especially those who just need to feel less alone.
Writing itself comes up as a healing tool. Zoe explains how getting feelings on paper helps release shame and “fake” guilt, while Jessica urges parents to grab a notebook and write without editing, simply to stop carrying it all inside.
Throughout, they keep circling back to one simple wish for every reader and listener: to feel seen, less hard on themselves, and to know, as Zoe puts it, “you are not broken, and your child is not broken.” If you’re a parent, caregiver, or friend trying to understand this kind of life, could this be the gentle honesty you’ve been needing?
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