A Swindon Town fan put pen to paper to help process grief after his father and son died within weeks of each other.
Liam Walsh is a massive Robins fan and regularly attended games both at home and on the road with his 15-year-old son Patrick and 77-year-old dad Mick.
In January 2020, Patrick collapsed while travelling home from a Tottenham Hotspur game, before Mick's condition suddenly deteriorated, and he died two weeks later.
Liam penned an emotional letter to the Adver paying tribute to his loved ones and spoke about this difficult time.
The 54-year-old said: "I remember that time so vividly, it feels like yesterday, everything changed in an instant. The strong reactions to my piece in the Adver really helped me get through it and helped other people understand what it was like.
"It was extraordinarily tough to return to Town games because things weren't how they used to be, but once the whistle blew, you get engrossed in what's happening on the pitch and normality resumes to a degree.
"I continued supporting the team but I missed Patrick and Dad every week because they were not there and there were fewer of us to talk about what happened, celebrate, and share in it all."
He's been inspired to keep on writing, and the result is a new book called Red Balloons: A Father, A Son, A Memoir, which was released on Father's Day by Halcyon Publishing.
"In the evenings, I was sat on the sofa taking notes and before too long, there were 13,000 words and I just kept going.
"Another friend was writing a book at the same time, so we inspired each other. Having the first draft printed was a tremendously important and proud moment.
"Writing was cathartic, but editing and re-reading the difficult bits was tough.
"I was acutely aware of the feelings of my wife and children, that they may have felt different things at different times and had different thoughts about what should be shared knowing that other people would be reading this.
"It was a fine line to tread, but they offered me kind and thoughtful suggestions.
"This book is a lasting monument to who Patrick and Mick were and reminds me of the memories we made together."
SUDC helped the Walshes during their mourning, so he wants to support their help for bereaved families and research into Sudden Unexpected Death in Children.
His book is about Swindon Town, Irish identity, music, grief, and hope.
The red balloons of the title signify how fragile love and happiness can be - especially the ease with which it is burst.
Father's Day is a particularly poignant time of year as Liam and his wife make an effort to arrange family activities that help remember Patrick and Mick while making new happy memories with their son and daughter.
Liam added: "We talk about them whenever we can - Patrick would have liked this, Dad would have argued about that - because it's important that people know it's safe to talk about those they have lost.
"I would appreciate it if people who read my book simply said 'you are making grief discussable'.
"I feel a real sense of achievement, and writing did help, but, in a way, nothing has really changed.
"We did all we could to ensure Patrick loved his time with us and he experienced a lot in his life and there was nothing unsaid, but that's not a healer.
"It's hard to think that he is in old photos and there will never be new ones."
Copies of Red Balloons are available from Bert's Books and Amazon.
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