Almost a year since the death of his fiancée a South Lincolnshire dad has revealed how much social media has helped him cope.
Brett Harman’s partner Hannah died on October 31 last year, just 18 days before her 30th birthday, leaving a young daughter.
The couple had founded Spalding’s Rush Hour Escape Room and had big plans for a future together.
Brett was devastated and turned to social media and the platform TikTok to connect with others who may understand what he was facing.
He now has 280,000 followers and is launching his own podcast.
“I lost the love of my life. I lost the future we dreamed of. But what I didn’t lose was my voice,” he said.
Brett is himself a survivor of leukaemia and Hannah was by his side as he was treated in 2015.
“One day I was teaching and the next I was fighting for my life. Hannah helped me through every minute of it while finishing her degree,” he said.
The couple met in 2013 when Brett was about to start his teaching career and Hannah was studying nursing.
About halfway through her pregnancy, Hannah noticed a lump on her leg which turned out to be a rare form of sarcoma. She had her daughter two months early and underwent various surgeries. By 2022 the couple were told she was in remission.
They began planning their wedding but a week after they had been visiting venues, Hannah had crippling abdominal pain and in October last year she was put on a ventilator.
“I was praying for numbers on the machines to go up. They didn’t. We were told to prepare for the worst. Hannah passed away on October 31.
“It was terrifying, suddenly raising Summer on my own. Hannah was such a devoted mum and I didn’t feel like I knew how to do everything but I had to learn.
“I’d get Summer to bed and then the house would go completely silent. I’d sit in that silence just staring at the walls. That’s when I started going on TikTok Live, just for a bit of company. That’s where it all began.”
He said people connected with his humour and topics he loved like films, gaming and pop culture.
He has also created Brettflix, a social media channel, which had 225,000 followers across both TikTok and Instagram in just nine months.
“The content isn’t about cancer or grief. It’s about what helped me cope. Fun, films, nostalgia, community, distraction, escape. I’m not healed, but I’m healing.
“Life is unpredictable, but so is love, humour, courage and connection. I’m not a motivational speaker, I’m just a bloke from Lincolnshire who had his world ripped apart. But if I can help someone feel less along, then that’s everything,” he said.
The Brettflix podcast is available on all major platforms.
