The agony of losing my son in Nottingham attack

About this episode

Emma Webber shares her personal anguish after the loss of her son in a public attack.

In the first programme of a new series of Life Changing, Emma Webber, whose son Barnaby was killed in the 2023 Nottingham attack, talks with openness and candour about the very personal anguish at the heart of this very public story. Barnaby, fellow student Grace O'Malley Kumar and school caretaker Ian Coates were all victims of killer Valdo Calocane, a man who was known to be violent and who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. In a break from campaigning for an inquiry into Barnaby’s death, Emma takes Dr Sian Williams inside the whirlwind that engulfed her and her family, the little gestures by members of the public in Nottingham that meant so much, and the gradual realisation that she did have the strength to challenge the system that had failed to keep her son safe. Producer: Tom Alban

People in this episode

Host: Emma Webber

Guest: Dr Sian Williams

Topics covered

• loss
• grief
• public tragedy
• mental health
• family
• advocacy

Keywords

• Nottingham attack
• Barnaby
• grief
• mental health
• Valdo Calocane
• advocacy
• public tragedy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC Radio 4

Places: Nottingham

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