County Tyrone woman wins ‘Mum of the Year’

A CLADY mum who lost her husband four years ago, has been named the Families First ‘Mum of the Year’ at an awards ceremony.

Joanne Devine has been bringing up her three children ever since husband Adrian tragically passed away from a heart attack in 2018. Despite being set upon the path of grief, Joanne never let this define her life, and it was that resilience which saw her nominated for the accolade.

As Joanne explained, “I was nominated for the award in 2019, the year after Adrian died, by my friend Fiona Elliot. Fiona says that she felt I was a truly inspirational mum and the fact that I’ve been able to keep going through the pain and loss, with the help of my friends and family, was something to be proud of and she was very proud of me. I was so touched by that.

‘for the kids’

“I’ve had to keep going for the kids who find it so hard without Adrian and its heart-breaking seeing them having to grow up without him.”

Nominated in 2019, the awards were shelved due to Covid, but Joanne knew that she had been on the shortlist.

Better late than never, the awards came back this year with a lavish ceremony in Limavady’s Roe Park Resort, with just Joanne and another lady up for the prestigious accolade.

She continued, “I went up there on the night not really expecting to win to be honest. I knew I was down to the final two but that was it. Fiona came with me; she was up for a separate award that night (which she won).

“The kids were all excited, sitting at home waiting patiently to hear whether I had won or not.

“When it came to my award, the judges surprised everyone by awarding it jointly to me and the other nominee! It’s fair to say that nobody expected that to happen. I think it was a lovely thing to do – I don’t think it would have been very fair to give the prize to one person above the other…

“It means so much to get the award and I think it says a lot about how my family and friends think I’ve done since Adrian’s death.

“I feel very privileged.”