Michael Palin has spoken about the “great void” left behind by his beloved wife Helen after her tragic death in May.
The 80-year-old actor sadly lost his partner just weeks after their 57th wedding anniversary after courageously battling chronic pain and kidney failure.
Speaking to the Times, he said: “When someone is gone, someone who has been so much a part of your life for the last 60 years, you can’t believe they aren’t there to talk about a little joke, an observation or something to be happy about something else.” **** about someone.
Added: “A great emptiness sets in.”
He also shared with the publication how his wife decided to give up dialysis after relying on surgery to stay alive despite kidney failure.
Candid: Michael Palin, 80, spoke about the “great void” left behind by his beloved wife Helen after her tragic death in May
RIP: The actor sadly lost his partner after courageously battling chronic pain and kidney failure, just weeks after their 57th wedding anniversary (pictured together in 2015).
Saying: The last ten days of her life – I have never seen her happier in any way. She had accepted it, we had accepted it, she was in a wonderful hospice. The children and grandchildren had all come to see her, so her death was a great relief to them.”
According to the NHS, dialysis is a procedure used to remove waste products and excess fluid from the blood when the kidneys are no longer working properly.
Michael and Helen had been lovers since childhood and had children Thomas (54), William (52) and Rachel (48) as well as four grandchildren.
When the Monty Python star announced the sad news, he branded his wife the “foundationstone of my life” and said her death was an “indescribable loss” for him and their children.
The Monty Python star told how Helen had been suffering from chronic pain for several years and had been diagnosed with kidney failure before her death.
The childhood sweethearts met when they were 16 and married in 1966. They celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary weeks before Helen’s death.
When Michael announced the news on his blog, he shared a selfie together and wrote: “My dearest wife Helen passed away peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday morning.”
“She had suffered from chronic pain for several years, which was made worse by a diagnosis of kidney failure a few years ago.”
Poor health: He also shared with the publication how his wife had decided to give up dialysis after relying on surgery to stay alive despite kidney failure (pictured together in 2005).
Soulmates: Michael and Helen married in 1966 when they were in their early 20s after a six-year relationship
“We first met on a summer holiday on the Suffolk coast when we were both sixteen and married in our early twenties. Two and a half weeks ago we celebrated our 57th wedding anniversary.
“Her death is an indescribable loss for me, our three children and four grandchildren.”
“Helen was the foundation of my life.” Her calm, wise judgment informed all my decisions, and her humor and practical sense were at the heart of our life together. The family asks that their privacy be respected at this time.”
Last September, Michael spoke about Helen’s poor health when he revealed she had been moved from the home they shared for 50 years to short-term care.
He explained that she had not responded to medication for her chronic pain and said they had been switched to help her “manage” her symptoms.
During their 57-year marriage, the childhood sweethearts had three children together – Thomas, 54, William, 52, and Rachel, 48 (pictured in 1980).
The couple (pictured in 1989) met when they were just 16 and celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary just weeks before Helen’s death
The comedian told the Telegraph at the time: “I don’t think it can be cured, but they will help her cope.”
“It’s so boring.” She was so active and still is mentally. But the body decays. “We live with our fingers crossed.”
Michael and Helen met as teenagers when they were both on summer holiday in Southwold, Suffolk, where they lived in neighboring cottages with their families.
According to The Telegraph, he described Helen as a “vision of rebellion” when he first met her and admitted their romance quickly blossomed.
Michael was living in Sheffield at the time while Helen was in Cambridgeshire, but the couple stayed in touch by writing letters and met again the following summer.
On Michael’s first day at Oxford University, where Helen was visiting her friend for the weekend, they met again and fate brought them together again.
Recalling the reunion, Michael said: “You can see that fate was actually pulling us very hard at that point.”