Former 10 Over 10 show host Willis Raburu popularly as Bazu recently recounted how deeply the death of his daughter Adana who he shared with ex-wife Marya Prude affected him.
He lost his daughter in late 2019 and five years on he is still yet to come to terms with her demise, and revealed that he was just now mustering the courage to speak about his experience. READ FULL STORY
The media personality and entrepreneur was speaking in an interview with Parents Magazine where he disclosed details he had never shared with the public of that difficult time.
Willis shared candidly about his deep emotional investment in the pregnancy, his hopes and dreams for his daughter, and expressed a profound sense of loss, feeling that he had been deprived of something precious.
The entertainer was overjoyed to become a father, eagerly anticipating introducing his girl to his favourite football team, Manchester United.
He had already purchased miniature Man United onesies and accessories for the baby, but his dream would soon be dashed after nurses delivered the heartbreaking news that the baby had been stillborn.
“It was like an out-of-body experience, I couldn’t understand what they were telling me. I held my baby cold… I called her many times but she did not answer me back, she did not cough, and she did not cry. There was no miracle as I was hoping for,” he narrated.
Willis said his heart broke after seeing how much she resembled him, studying her face while she rested, noticing his features on her which further fueled his pain. He felt robbed, questioning his role as her father now that she had departed.
“For me as a dad, I felt like I was robbed of that opportunity. I asked myself, I’m I still a dad? And the baby looked exactly like me. I look at the pictures till today and 100% she was just me. She had the Raburu nose… And in that moment you know it makes you… I don’t even know how I’m able to talk about it now, I think it’s just time.
It takes me back to how life can just flip. It was such a darkness, I remember at that time telling God, ‘Okay, you win,” Raburu recalled.
Now five years later, the memories resurface unexpectedly taking back him to that dark time and he is often triggered by the smallest of things, reminding him of an experience he lost.
“Sometimes when I am passing through the supermarkets’ fridges and that cold hits me, I flinch. It gets in there,” Willis candidly said.
The former news anchor pointed out that society often overlooks the grief of fathers affected by child loss, as the well-being of mothers is always prioritized, leaving men grappling with hurt and immense loss.
He emphasized that the conversation around men’s mental health, in the context of losing their children should be had in a large capacity, as most fathers are breadwinners and hence should also receive support.
Willis who is currently a father of two separated from Marya in 2020, just months after the loss of their child.
