From teenage grief to comedy - and a love letter to Mum

By the time Ollie Maddigan was 9 years old he'd already been in the British newspapers twice for saving his Mum's life. She suffered from epilepsy, and he'd put her in the right position and called an ambulance when she'd had a seizure. At the time the press called him a hero; he won an award for young carers and even got invited on British morning television. But when he was 14, he couldn't save her after she had a seizure in the night. After her death, Ollie was sent to live with his dad where, traumatised and overwhelmed by guilt, he started playing up at school with adolescent bravado to disguise his grief. It took him years to talk about it, before he started to write it all down, eventually writing an award-winning one-man comedy about his experience called 'The Olive Boy'.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Zoe Gelber

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Two images side by side; on the left, a headshot of Ollie aged 23; on the right, a photograph of Ollie aged 6 with his mum Charlie. They are sitting on the floor unwrapping Christmas presents, Ollie has just unwrapped a large calculator. Credit: Ollie Maddigan)