Jamie Dornan Opens Up About His Mother's Death From Pancreatic Cancer

Jamie Dornan is opening up about the tragic death of his mother, Lorna, who passed away when he was only 16 years old from pancreatic cancer.

“I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer 20 years ago last week,” the 36-year-old actor said to the BBC, as he became a patron of the group NIPanC. NIPanC will work with both the Pancreatic Cancer Action and Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund.

Of his mother’s death in 1998, “Horrific – I often say this but you don’t really know what the effects are of losing someone, particularly when you’re so young,” he said. “They are daily and continue to have an effect – you feel that they are manifesting over time in a way you didn’t expect them to…You never get over it and now that I have kids myself I see they don’t have a grandmother from my side – that’s an odd thing.”

“I look back on that time and see it in a very blurry way. I was very young, I was 14 when my mum got diagnosed and had just turned 16 when she died. Every kid at that age is naive, I felt like I was particularly young and naive at that time. I was a wee bit behind compared to my mates growing up, but I had to grow up pretty fast after that. It has an ever evolving effect on me, that loss, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” he continued.

“I’ve always wanted to be associated to a charity that means something to me in a major way. It all seemed very fitting I could do whatever I can promote awareness of this horrendous disease,” he added.