Martine McCutcheon told her fans to “hug very tight” in a reflective message following the death of her brother LJ, who died aged 31 without a medical explanation.
The heartbroken TV star, 46, took to Instagram on Tuesday where she admitted her ‘heart is forever broken’ while revealing that her only brother Laurence John, aka LJ – who was in shape mild special needs – passed away two weeks ago.
After taking some time off, the actress took to Instagram on Saturday with a photo of her face looking peacefully up at the blue sky while pulling out her son Rafferty. seven, for a walk.
Reflection: Martine McCutcheon told her fans to ‘hug very tight’ in a reflective post after her brother LJ died aged 31 without a medical explanation
She captioned the post, shared with her 542,000 followers: “Blue skies and sunshine on Saturday. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.
“Hold on tight and make memories.”
She said the website designer was due to marry his fiancée Jay Eaton, 49, in a month and that Martine, who was to be bridesmaid, had seen her brother just days before he died.
Sharing some photos of LJ earlier this week, Martine wrote: ‘My heart is forever broken, My little brother, my gentle giant sadly passed away, suddenly, 2 weeks ago. He was 31 years old.
Martine McCutcheon’s brother dies aged 31: Heartbroken star reveals brother Laurence John died suddenly without explanation a month before his wedding
“There is no medical explanation as to why we lost him so early and while we investigate further we have to accept that nothing will bring our boy back to us.
“LJ (Laurence John) was born when I was 15 and from the moment I first held him I felt so proud and fiercely protective of him. He was such a character!
“He made us all laugh and loved nothing more than making a plan, having a great playlist, bringing people together and generally laughing.”
Continuation: Martine McCutcheon has revealed she returned to work after the sudden death of her brother LJ ‘without medical explanation’
She returned to work on Thursday, admitting she had “felt” his presence after he died “without medical explanation”.
The former EastEnders actress, 46, confirmed the tragic news of Laurence John’s passing on Tuesday, where she admitted her “heart is forever broken”.
Taking to her Instagram Stories, the grieving star thanked her followers for their outpouring of love and said her beloved brother would like her to “carry on”.
And in a candid video, she spoke directly to the camera as she opened up about her devastating loss.
Special link: Martine shared this Instagram photo with her brother in 2013, writing how much she loved him – she was only 15 when he was born
Memories: Martine also took to her stories to share the same image with her brother alongside Swedish House Mafia’s song Don’t You Worry Child, which was LJ’s favorite song
She said: ‘Hi everyone, I hope you are well, This is my first time on Instagram since I shared my post about the loss of my brother a few weeks ago.
“First of all, thank you so much for the outpouring of love, it means so much to my family.”
“Today was my first day back at work, I wasn’t sure if I could do it or not – I was nervous, a bit of filming and a meeting and I’m so glad I did .
She continued: “I know my brother would want me to continue and he was so proud of me and the fact that I loved inspiring people and making them feel good and giving them a little magic where I could” .
“I felt it with me, and I did, the first day back. I did it.’
Soulmate: After EastEnders star Martine confirmed the tragic news of Laurence John’s death on Tuesday, her partner Jay Eaton shared his tribute with the caption: ‘forever my soul mate x’.
Alongside the emotional clip she wrote: ‘Thank you for your support. Coming back to it little by little. I know LJ would want me to continue.”
“He was proud of me and understood why I do what I do. Grief is a weird old thing and there’s no one way to navigate it, but it feels good to work through. I was nervous but I did it.
It comes after Martine’s brother’s heartbroken fiancee posted a series of moving images of the two of them together.
Following the announcement of his passing, his partner Jay Eaton shared his tribute online with the caption: “Forever my soulmate x”.
Jay, 49, was to marry Laurence John, aka LJ, in a month with Martine who was to be the bridesmaid.
‘My heart is forever broken’: Martine revealed the devastating news of LJ’s mysterious death in a lengthy post, writing, ‘LJ has fallen in love and was due to get married next month