Begin Again with Davina McCall - Doctors Gave My Wife 18 Months… We Got 12 Extra Years | Pete Cohen

Episode Date: July 23, 2026

She was given just 18 months to live. They got 12 more years together. In this episode of Begin Again, motivational speaker and bestselling author Pete Cohen joins Davina to share the extraordinary love story that changed his life forever. Pete opens up about meeting his wife Hannah by chance, falling in love as she was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour, and why leaving was never an option. Together, they faced impossible decisions, raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for life-saving treatment, and defied every expectation to build another twelve years together. But this conversation is about much more. Pete reflects on the regrets that still stay with him, why he wishes he'd been more present with Hannah, and how grief transformed the way he thinks about love, fear and what really matters. He shares how watching Hannah embrace life in the face of death changed him forever, and why her legacy continues to shape the way he lives today. Davina and Pete also explore the fear of losing the people we love, what it means to truly show up for someone in their darkest moments, and how grief can become a reminder to live more intentionally rather than something we simply survive. This is a conversation about love, loss, resilience and the extraordinary impact one person can have on your life, even after they're gone. If you've ever loved someone deeply, lost someone you couldn't imagine living without, or wondered how to carry on after heartbreak, this episode is for you. 🌟 Like, comment and subscribe for more honest conversations about grief, love, resilience, purpose and beginning again. Tap the bell so you never miss a new episode. Follow us here: 📸 www.instagram.com/beginagain 🎥 https://www.tiktok.com/@beginagainpod  ✨ Watch Pete's award-winning documentary, Team Hannah, and learn more about Hannah's extraordinary story: https://www.teamhannah.com/  ✨ Sign up for the Begin Again newsletter for behind-the-scenes access, recommendations and much more: https://linkly.link/2g2xm  (00:00) INTRO (01:14) Pete Cohen and Team Hannah (01:53) Growing Up With Learning Difficulties (03:12) Struggling at School (04:17) Becoming a Fitness Coach (05:12) How Pete’s Parents Shaped Him (07:32) How Pete Met Hannah (09:45) Hannah’s Brain Tumour Diagnosis (12:31) Chronic Fatigue and Finding a Mentor (14:32) Raising Money for Cancer Treatment (16:14) Falling in Love Through Cancer (17:05) Experimental Cancer Treatment in America (19:48) Ancient & Brave Ad (20:50) Do Health Ad (22:00) Why Pete Filmed Hannah’s Journey (24:14) Grief and Celebrating Through Suffering (27:16) Pete’s Biggest Regret (31:33) Hannah’s Love of Quilting (36:50) Ten Years Cancer-Free (37:47) A Gift From Hannah (39:32) The Team Hannah Documentary (43:23) Davina’s Mission for Begin Again (44:07) Pete’s Next Chapter (47:44) Advice for Grief and Caring for Someone Sponsored by: Ancient + Brave - https://ancientandbrave.earth/pages/planet and use code BEGINAGAIN for 20% off your order Do Health - The waitlist is open. Begin Again listeners get fixed early access pricing when they sign up today at dohealth.co/beginagain use code BEGINAGAIN Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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She gets sick. You didn't leave and fell in love. Today I'm joined by motivational speaker Pete Cohen, who has spent decades healthy people chose the way they think live and show up to themselves. Hannah had a major epileptic fit, a grand mal seizure. You get the news that she has a brain tumour. What happened to you in that moment?

We talk about what it really means to love someone through the hardest chapters of life. I didn't know who I was. I wish I'd been more present with her. When she died, people said, do you know how much she loved you? Yeah. I just didn't know because I wouldn't allow myself to see. I didn't allow myself because I was scared. He also shares about grief and how it has a way of reminding us what truly must.

truly matters in this world. What's next for you? Where are you going in life? I think life is about becoming through overcoming, grief. If you can find a way to keep the memory of the person that was in your life alive, what a wonderful thing to do. Where's life taking you? I woke up in the middle of the night

and I just thought I know exactly what I need to do, which is I need to finish what I've started. And it's also a reminder that the best way to honour the people we love is to live our lives fully because it's never too late to begin again. Pete Cohen. Pete Cohen. Hi.

Hello. I just want to say thank you for coming to talk to us today. There's so much I want to talk to you about, but I think I'm just going to say, if you do one thing today, please go to teamhanna.com and watch the documentary, which how many awards is your documentary? 11.

It's won 11 awards. It is incredibly moving. And I feel like in a way, it's, well, it's a bit of a gift to you, but it's a gift to Hannah to watch it. but it'll be an amazing gift for you to appreciate life and everything that we all take for granted.

And it's a love story. But before we go any further, I really want to talk about young Pete because I was so amazed to read about you leaving school at 16 with 1G-CSE and what you've achieved. So let's just talk about you as a young man, North London, tell me everything.

I was born in 1970. I was six weeks premature. My mum told me I was in a hurry to come out and I've been in a hurry ever since. But I had a very happy little childhood. What were you like? I was a nightmare. I never kept still.

I was completely hyperactive, a little bit like someone I'm facing. I was always just a rosy cheeks, always smiling. But they definitely saw something at school with my attention. And then I was diagnosed with learning difficulties in 1975. Everything was compounding how I felt about myself, which is I'm not enough.

There's something wrong with me. And I've got to prove myself. And that's what I've done all my life. I've tried to prove myself through all the things I've done professionally have all been about validation, acceptance. And none of it really worked. None of it really made any difference at all. I was looking for something outside of myself to change me inside. And that never happened until something major happened.

So I understand a bit better about who you were inside. It was like, I know I have something to offer. Yeah. But I've left with one GCSE. You ended up going to university. What happened in the couple of years between you leaving school and going to uni? Well, I was actually like you. I was O levels.

I was the last of the O levels, 1986. I did so badly, they wouldn't let me retake them. I got a U in English, unclassified. I got a grade five in maths at C.C. CSE, there was a course at my school, it was called CPVE, it was a certificate in pre-vocational education. It was basically for people that really struggled with reading and writing. And I started doing that course at a college near to my school. And after doing that for a year, I applied to do something that was equivalent to A-levels and they turned me down because they just said we don't

think you're academic enough. And back in the day, there were some colleges that were doing higher education courses. So fortunately one of these colleges I applied and they accepted me. So I did a diploma in higher education. I became a fitness instructor in 1989. For me, it was always that piece with helping people with fitness was to help people get to a place where being fit and healthy was something that they did. Yes. And I've always been fascinated with that. There's like this fight in me to look where someone is and try and help them navigate where they're are versus actually trying to do it for them. Yes.

And I realize now we don't do that for people. That's only something in most cases that people can do for themselves. But the best thing you can do is hold someone's hand as they go through something difficult. Isn't that what life's all about? Isn't it just about who did you show up for? Who were you there for when they really needed you? Isn't that what it's about? You've gone to university.

You're fit as fuck. you're training people, you're loving it, it's giving you what you want, but you start writing. Now, to me, this is absolute lunacy when you have been told your whole life, but there's a self-belief in you. Yeah, yeah. And I want to ask you where that comes from

because there'll be people watching who've been through what you've been through and have just been crushed. Well, the first thing that came to mind as my parents, I think a lot of it came from them, but I also did feel... What were they like? Oh, they were just incredible. I'm so fortunate to come from parents that just did everything for their children.

I'm so privileged. A lot of people didn't have that. My dad always said to me, son, it's not what you know, is who you know. And now I realize it's actually who knows you. And often people will know you, often because of... Well, you did. And my mum always, my mom always said there's an answer to,

there's an answer to everything. And I know that's why Hannah, you know, I've always been looking for answers and solutions. And it's funny you say this, because when I grew up, my mum trying to lose weight. My mum was a serial dieter. She was a hoarder.

She used to collect everything, all the gizmos and the gadgets from Weight Watchers, Sliming World. And I used to watch all this. I used to watch a stand on the scales. And I remember her watching a standing, and I didn't know what was going on, because sometimes she'd get off these things

and be smiling. and other times she would be annoyed. And I think that sets something in me like, I want to solve this issue for my mum because honestly, when you work in a gym back in the late 80s and 90s, most people want to lose weight. So I became very interested in that.

I created a program for weight loss that really focused on how people were thinking, had nutritional elements and exercise elements. And because I got pretty good at doing this work, I created a program that it was bought by a medical insurance company in I think 2003, but I wrote a book about it and it was called Sliming with Pete. Manda Ersel, who used to review diet books under Sunday Times, I messaged her and she met me. She'd never met any other author. She wrote in the Sunday Times, by the end of this book,

you'll be in danger of changing your eating habits, taking up exercise and discovered you're a wonderful person. That changed the course of my life. Let's talk about when you met Hannah, because If we are talking about destiny and we are talking about forces at play and synchronicity, there were forces at play when you met Hannah. No question about it. Didn't know at the time, but looking back, it's as obvious as you sitting here right in front of me. So in 2010, I had a speaking engagement at a conference in Croatia. I was at Heathrow Airport and I was going to buy a new shirt.

I was in Ted Baker. I was just about to buy this shirt and then I saw a belt and I just sort of stepped away. Hannah was behind me and I said, please come through and she kind of looked to me, gave me a bit of a weird look. And I said, oh yeah, my dad would be really disappointed if I didn't let you go in front of me. I just remember her looking me like, this guy is weird. And then the next day, I walk on stage to four or five hundred people and the first person I see is her.

I see Hannah. And I look at her, she looks at me and we smile. And normally, after an engagement like that, I would just get on a plane and go home. But something happened in 2010 when the whole world stopped. There was an ash cloud in Iceland where everyone was grounded. And we were grounded. And I believe that fate brought us together through a big stop moment. We got to know each other.

I really liked being with her. But she didn't think she was going to be with me. And I didn't really think I was going to be with her. We just got on. We just got on. I was 14 years older than her. But she was what, 27? 27, yeah.

She smoked. She smoked. She drunk. All of the things that you don't really... I don't mind a few drinks, but smoking is not something I'm a massive fan of. But we came back to the UK. She was living in Ireland. She really wanted to be with me. I didn't know this at the time. And then we started seeing each other every other weekend. And I really enjoyed being with her. I remember waking up in bed with her every day.

And she used to have this crazy hair. And every day her hair was different. So I take a picture of her hair because every day it was something, a different type of hair she was producing. And I used to love laughing with her, but I didn't think it was going to go anywhere. But again, how fate can change everything. And in one moment, everything changed.

We were at my parents' house. How long had you been to go to this stage? One year. One year. We stayed at my parents' house. And Hannah had a major epileptic fit, a grandmule seizure. It went on for about 15 minutes.

But luckily, my mum was in the house. If my mum had known this was going to happen, obviously she would have freaked out, but my mum was a very strong person. She responded in a way that was amazing. Hannah was rushed to hospital, the Royal Free Hospital in North London. And it wasn't long until they could see that there was something, you know, it was a big tumour in her brain. And she had eight and a half hour surgery on her brain. A couple of weeks later, she had radiotherapy. Wow, I've just remembered something as well.

So while we were waiting for the surgery, oh, God, I remember Hannah and I, we had a bit of a disagreement about something. I was living in a place called Frinton, of all places, and Hannah left the room. And then I could hear this banging. I didn't know what it was. She'd collapsed in the toilet, and her arm was, because she'd become epileptic, so she started having seizures. And it was at that point I realized how I felt had a direct impact on her. Because if she got stressed, she could have sick. seizures. That was a big... She was so brave, so brave to have that surgery when the doctors

came to get her to take her downstairs at the Royal Free. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to go, but she found something in herself to go and have this operation. And she did. And then she had radiotherapy, all her hair fell out, and I realized just what a big thing that was for her. Can I just ask you, you go to the Royal Free, you're in A&E and you get to the Royal Free? the news that she has a brain tumour. What happens to you in that moment? It won't surprise you. Obviously, a huge amounts of fear.

But the first thing I think is, who can I speak to about this? So I had a coach for 16 years. He was a doctor. He sadly passed away. I called him up. I remember standing in the car park and he was always just the coolest, calmest person.

He said, find people that are still alive with the same brain tumour and find out why. That was the first thing he said. Oh, that's an amazing, brilliant thing to say, isn't it? But it was the next thing he said that was just as brilliant. He said, ask her what she's going to do and she gets better. And I said, did you not hear what I just said?

And he went, yes. I said, she's just been given 18 months. And he went, so what? People defy the odds all the time. Can you just explain to people? Because it's not a therapist. It's something different. Oh, no, no.

So can you just explain what his role was in your life? I mean, it's a really weird thing to know how lucky you are when you've had a couple of people in your life that have been there for you in a way that, you know, I've had two people. I have someone in my life like that. They're not a coach, they're not a mentor, they're not a guide, they're all of those things.

Someone who just makes themselves available to you, kind of like a parent, but more. And I met him when I was so desperate myself in 1999. In my 20s, I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue. I had that for 10 years. I'd burnt out. I had no idea about how to manage myself, manage my energy. I was desperate to get better.

I tried so many things to get well. I saw so many doctors myself. I'm going to say, you know, there were days that I didn't want to be here anymore because I was so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I haven't really spoken about this too much, definitely publicly. So at this time where everything was going so well for me in my career, you know, after that book was published, Random House, Harper Collins, they wanted to publish me. I got a fax from Random House for 20, offering me 25,000 pounds to publish my next book. So all this stuff was happening, TV, my own TV show.

So all of this stuff, but inside, my energy was just up and down, up and down. So I met Raphael in 1999 and he was there for me when he helped me. But it was time and learning how to manage myself, manage my energy, which I'm still learning how to do to this day. But when you've got someone like that in your life, I didn't appreciate it. I didn't appreciate it as much as I appreciate it now. Yes. It's funny how what you don't appreciate when you've got it until it's gone. But then when you begin again, you then have an opportunity, which we do, to appreciate what we have.

So it's amazing when you have someone like that. And his advice changed the world. His advice changed the world because I did find people that were still alive. And this doctor's name kept coming up, a guy called Dr. Baczynski in America. Huge amounts of controversy about this doctor. There was, less now. Dr. Hillary Jones, who, you know, many people know from breakfast television, I asked him what I should do.

He looked into the research and he said to me, if it was me, I'd go. But we needed, the treatment cost $250,000. It wasn't just whether you were trying to decide whether to go and see him or not, but you had this enormous kind of financial burden to unlock before you could go. That's a lot of money, you know, to try and find. What happened? Well, it's not what you know, it's who you know, right? So I know a lot of people.

Yeah, yeah. I know a lot of people. We sat around my parents' kitchen table to mother. people. We all came up with some ideas of what we could do. Someone got a hundred tattoos on his back to raise money. People cycling from John O'Grote's to Land's End. Eagle Radio in Surrey did a big thing about Hannah was where she was originally from. People came together. Team Hannah became a thing. At that time, Facebook was a thing was a thing. We went public. We launched this thing called Team Hannah. We did a weekly blog. We sat on this bench outside of where Hannah, I found somewhere for Hannah to live. which was just, which was, because we weren't living together. So she lived just down the road from me, Jewish community housing. Oh, you weren't living together? No.

No, no. Oh, wow. No, no. But I mean, I would have done anything. I mean, I fell in love with this woman through this, this process. She didn't need me to rescue her in one way, but in another way. Yeah, can I ask you something? Because here was a girl.

You were with her for a year. She gets sick. You stay. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, come on. Leaving wasn't an option. No, but you didn't just not leave. Yeah.

You didn't leave and fell in love. Yeah, felt hopelessly, I suppose, yeah, like we became inseparable. We became just best friends. We went through the most. You know, even just to think about what we went through is like, well, how could anyone make sense? I mean, you know, I'm sure you know what that's about, where you go through that something that's so difficult and so hard that you don't actually really stop and think about. what you went through because you just got to keep going. Yeah. Because death is not an option.

No. But people were amazing and they all bought into the story. We raised enough money but getting to America was really difficult because we had to find a doctor in the UK that would oversee the treatment. And that's quite a thing, wasn't it said no. Yeah. Because it wasn't, it wasn't. It wasn't nice guideline to prove.

No, no. Then I found a guy, one doctor, Dr. Lawrence Buckman, who was chair of the G. association. He actually said yes. And we went, we eventually went. I mean, I was trying to get Hannah to watch a documentary about Bersinski and she wouldn't watch it. She just wasn't ready. And then one day I wasn't with her. She watched it twice. This documentary about him and some of the patients. And she just called me and said, we're going. Because she had a very strong mind. I couldn't convince her. And by the way, when she had a brain tumor, she stopped smoking. She stopped drinking. She started eating a much, much healthier diet.

She's changed all the cleaning products in the house. She changed. She started to discover who she was. So she'd had the operation at the Royal Free. And then you did decide to go to America and you did get the money to go, which is pretty like un-fucking believable. You get to America and you start the treatment with Bersinski

and you then find out you've got to stay for six weeks. weeks and how devastated she was about that. Yeah. But she picked herself up. She dusted herself off. Tell me about the treatment and what that was like. Yeah. And how was it for her and for you?

Yeah, I mean, I had to become responsible for this treatment. It was a, the treatment was called a synthesized peptide. So peptides now become. They're so trendy. Bersinski, his research in the 70s, early 70s was peptides. and he found that people with certain diseases were deficient in certain peptides. So he synthesized peptides. And this was the treatment that Hannah was on.

It went in through a Hickman line every day, 24 hours a day. And Hannah was on that treatment for 18 months. She had to come on and off it a few times. And you came back to the UK. Yeah, yeah. You had out and you had this GP that was helping you. Three blood tests every week, MRI every month. And it was scary.

but she started getting better and better and better. Now, at what point did you get the news that something was changing? When we were there in America, you know, there was this... Before we left. Before we left, it was just the best news ever. And Hannah just, you just saw her come alive more and more, like there's hope. There was hope.

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to question, understand and then act on. It checks your blood three times a year, including lots of things many of us have never even been tested for. And then it explains what your body is telling you clearly and calmly. And then gives you a weekly plan with an in-app coach so you know what to do next. Not more worry, it's a way forward. Go to dohealth.com slash begin again and use code begin again to lock in early access pricing. I quickly want to ask you, you decided to document this journey.

And I know you had Team Hannah and because you'd raised the money and everything, there were bits, you know, there was the bench that you sat on to deliver news. But was this part of that? Or was this just, I feel like... There was a couple of things. This is a moment. Yeah, tell me. There was a couple of things.

One, I wanted to continue to just chart the journey to share with people at home. But also, Buzinski was being taken to court by the effort. and the Texas Medical Board. So I just thought I've got to film this because this treatment that Hannah was going to be on probably for about 18 months. If something happened to him, they might stop the treatments.

I just... He let me film everything. He let me speak to anyone, other patients. And, you know, let's be honest here, I met a lot of people along the way. A lot of children that went over to see Buzinsica, got to know their children, got to know their parents.

And a lot of those children aren't here anymore. We were incredibly fortunate. And it's amazing when you see the children that I met along the way whose parents were just desperate for their children to live. And I know you've seen that bit in the film when we phone up Hannah's dad to tell Hannah's dad that the tumor has started to shrink and he goes, fucking out. And because he was looking after Hannah's mom. Hannah's mom had dementia for 11 years and he couldn't be there for Hannah, but I could. I could be there for her. I was there through everything with her.

And what a privilege as you speak about with your sister, you know, when you talked about, you know, washing her body and just actually. I can't believe she let me do that. I still, Caroline. Yeah, yeah, there's our actress. But she gifted me that. Yeah. She knew because we couldn't have been more different.

I was Mrs. Walk around the House naked all the time. Like I never saw my sister naked except for two days before she. died, or the day before she died, in fact, I think it was the day before she went to sleep for the last time. Yeah. And she let me wash her whole body. And then diprobase. She had the smoothest, softer skin.

Yeah. Like, moisturise her whole body. And it was the saddest, but the most beautiful thing. My brother said to me about this, because he was there with me when Hannah took her last breath and with my mum. Oh, wow. He said something about a tragic privilege. Yes.

Yeah. I was just thinking about you because you lost your mum My dad first in 2018 and then my mum in 21 and Hannah and 23 and I never stopped really to But I have now It is

But when I look at it I think it is relative And obviously it was extremely difficult and challenging But there are people out there That have to face things which are far more I say far more challenging It's I don't know It feels like I just did what

maybe a lot of people would do. And life is difficult. Yes. Isn't it? Yeah. It's hard. It's challenging. To pretend it's anything else is a joke.

Yeah. How are you doing? No, it's, it's, um, it's interesting to stop and reflect on what's happened because I don't reflect too much. I've cried a lot. I've gone through those stages of grieving. But the ultimate stage of grief. is acceptance. And I learned to accept through celebration and rejoicing. It's a very biblical thing to rejoice in your suffering. I'm not a Christian, but the gentleman, a guy called Dr. Ray Sylvester, who's helped me for the last five years. He's been there with me through the darkest of moments. He's a Christian. And he said that to me. He said, you've got to find a way to celebrate in your suffering.

And I thought, what is he talking about? How do you celebrate suffering? How do you rejoice in your suffering? And I realize now what he meant. He meant that it's not that you're not suffering, but you find a way to celebrate where you are despite of your suffering because it builds character. It builds hope.

And that's why I suppose I eventually made something from everything that happened. When we started talking to Vina, I was thinking about we watch a film sometimes and we moved by the film and maybe we leave and we're still moved. With what I made, I want that to be a defining moment for some people that they're moved by it in such a way that their life changes because of it.

Maybe your life will change. I'm sure it has been changed because you've got to know this person. Hannah would love to have met you. She loved you. No, but can I just say something? Yeah. I thought exactly that.

I was going to say that to you. Like I would have loved to have met her. She seemed like so my kind of person. Her telling you about the spirit level in the camera on that opening shot really made me laugh so much. She was funny. Yeah. I mean, she was really, really funny, even in the darkest of moments. Yeah.

And she really loved me. And I really did know. Oh my God. I really did. Only when she died that some few people said to me, do you know how much she loved you? I just didn't know because I wouldn't allow myself to see. I didn't allow myself because I was scared.

I was really scared. She used to come and dance with sometimes and I'd dance with her for a bit. But I would always be wanting to go on to the next thing. I was always scared to be present. I wish I'd been more present with her. I wish I'd been more present with my mum and dad. I've always been frightened of death. I'm not frightened of it anymore.

But from a very early age, I was frightened that I was going to, my parents would die. And because of that, again, this busy being busy, I've always been ahead of myself, ahead of the game. No one could keep up with me. I couldn't even keep up with me. What changed, though, in your fear of death? How did Hans?

Hannah dying. But how did that change? When you see someone die, you know, my mum. I was with her when she took her last breath. And my brother was there and I'm here. It was the same with Harry. I know, you see someone take their last breath, especially, again, my mom, who gave me my first breath. And I was there to watch her leave this tragic privilege of this life ending.

But it doesn't, I don't think life ends. I think that life continues in me. You know, I'm here with that life that's been given to me. I'm giving it to you. I don't have to do anything. That's something else I realize now. I don't actually have to do anything. I can just be here, be me.

I don't have to try and do anything. I can just be me with my lived experience. When you talked about the regret of not being more present, can you explain what you mean by that? I think for me, I lived my life with fear was the dominating driver. So that put me in survival mode pretty much all the time without even knowing. so there's a mild anxiety. That's where chronic fatigue comes from, I think,

you know, not just from exercising like a lunatic, but never switching off, so always being on. And let's face it, there's something that's bigger than fear. There's love. That's all there is. Can I just feel? Well, I can feel the tears in my eyes. So it's like you're describing me.

Well, I've watched you. I've watched you. I've watched you, I woke up at 1 o'clock this morning. Because whenever I'm doing something like this, it's not that I'm anxious or nervous, but there's part of me that's already preparing for this. Me too. Like I want to have a good moment together. I feel the same.

So I watched you on winning that award in 2024. Uh-huh. And I watched you on stage and all the footage of lots of the things he's done. But that was lovely. But what I was actually watching was all the people. who are looking at you who love you just I mean literally love you

and it's like what is it they love what is it about you is it what you've done is it where you are no they love who you are you know it's not that's the difference what I've learned about

where I am isn't who I am where I am I'm a widow of it's not who I am I am more than my circumstance you know Sam Neal I think you saw that thing I posted when he was asked a question around what was the advice your parents gave you and that he started crying and he was saying his parents advice was his mum said to pull yourself together it's a lot easier to pull yourself together

when you know who you are yeah and you know all of this other stuff is nice but there's something more than all of what's just going on And that's what I see in you is what's happened to you has made you whole. Because you said when you came out from surgery, what was the first thing you said? I've been saved. I've been saved. You've got a second chance. To do something.

This is really what I wanted to say to you that I have found myself and I'm so glad that I have because I get to be what I found now. She found herself. She used to love sewing. She was used to love to sew. and she used to watch a guy called John Scott on Sowing Quarter. John used to be on this morning, lovely guy. And she started looking at quilting, and she's not all quilting. I think I'd like to do that.

So she bought this machine. We got married in 2014, I must say, so we went to America. She's had this treatment. She started getting better and better. She came home. This new woman came to life. And that's the thing I probably admired most about Hannah is that she found out who she was,

which was a creator and making things. And that's when she felt most alive, having projects that were, that she became known as the bespoke quilter. Can we just talk about her quilting? And is she, that's still on Instagram? Yeah, I said that to you today. The bespoke quilt.

Yeah, no one manages that account. Can I just say it's live, the bespoke quilter. Please go and have a look. The last quilt. that she created was quite simply the most beautiful thing I have ever seen

well she I'm a big fan of Michael Jordan and I became really interested here, the basketball player in the late 80s and I used to get every shirt that he had I collected every shirt but they were just in a bloody cupboard it's like what are you going to do with these

worth a fortune but I was never going to sell them And I kept saying to Hannah, could you do something with this? And she started it, but she wasn't able to finish it. But, yeah. Oh my gosh, look at this. It says, happy beautiful day, which is what she used to say all the time. All her emails all the time, happy beautiful day. So did she embroidered that?

No, no. It just was there. The person she built, she got the machine from. this woman Liz, who I'm so grateful for in fact if you turn it over and look at the bottom here it says you can read it

She was so talented Yeah she was She felt alive when she was doing this And the sad thing is that She can't do that anymore And that's why when you can help someone work out who they are And they can be who they are

And do what they may be here to do What a beautiful thing You and I have that opportunity Yeah. And I, as I said at the beginning, I truly believe one of your reasons for being on this earth is to inspire people to begin again. Do you know, thank you. Thank you for saying that. But do you think it's true?

Yeah, no, I do. Regardless of what happens. It's nice to feel seen, I guess. But what's amazing me about you, Davina, is the amount of people I've spoken to recently when I said I was going to be on your podcast, they all say the same thing. I love it. And then I'm thinking, what is it that they love about it? What do you think it is? What is it they love about this?

What I'm hoping is I'm giving people a chance to have a look at their life. I'm not letting go of this yet. Because I want to read this. Yeah, yes. But I'm going to wear this like this. But what I'm hoping is that they know, they know if they're following their path or not. And some people aren't following their path and something feels off. and I'd like to hope that they might see something on Begin Again

where they go, oh, I think that spoke to me. I think I might try and change something to get on my path to follow my destiny. Yeah. And that's what I think. Wow. That's what you've already started. Hoping people do. Can I read what's on here?

Of course. Oh, so this, you're always in, you're always in my heart, made especially for Pete Cohen by Hannah Bradley Cohen, Liz Hope in November, 2023. So after. Just a few months after Hannah had passed away. I've got quite a few of Hannah's quilts in my house. This is so, that, I mean, her just I, she was such a creative. wasn't she? She was such a creative

and I suppose part of the sad reality of when she found herself and then in November 2021 she had another major seizure a rush back into hospital but this time it was much more serious. With the treatment that Basinski has given her she did get the all clear

absolutely yeah so she five years more than five I mean it was it was 11 years 10 years 10 years 10 years 10 years of all clear 10 years of all clear So you had 10 years of happy

Well I say happy But I was always scared At the back of my mind But she'd get lost in doing this She'd get lost And we would get lost together But we did some great things together But I just

Tell me what you did together Well we started a business We had a coffee business With the mushrooms So she was a big fan of medicinal We were both big fans of medicinal mushrooms We started a business Where we had customers

All over the world We travelled She started quilting. We used to go and see some amazing things, you know. But again, I just wish I'd made the most of it. Can I say something? Yeah. I should be a bit kinder to myself, shouldn't I?

Stop saying that. You did? Yeah. You did make the most of it. You wish that you could go back and do something differently, but you did what you did and look what you're doing. Yeah. Yeah, it is.

She is. She is very proud. She is very proud. She is very proud. And that's why this is very, very important. So at Hannah's funeral, we gave everyone a magic wand. And we, everyone sung abracadabra by the Steve Miller band. Hannah loved that song.

I love that song. Yeah. And abracadabra means, it comes from a Hebrew word, which basically means I create as I speak. So I had to give this to you because of the magic of what you talk about when people call it manifesting,

I don't know what you call it, but I've heard you say many, many times I'm speaking this into existence and knowing the magic that is behind that, the energy that's behind that. And I honestly, I can't, I can't

I can't. Just do me a favour. Keep doing what you're doing. Keep having these conversations and you're going to create a... You know what I'm going to do? A bigger movement. A move. Mama's going to live with me here.

That's fantastic. I'm putting her on here. Yeah. So we can abradabra the shit out of this. Yeah, yeah. I love this. Yeah, yeah. This is so...

So this is from... From her funeral, yeah. There were a few left. Pete! Yeah, no, honestly. I feel so... unworthy. No, don't be silly.

Don't be silly. So, so, so, you know, when we had the premiere of the film, do you know how many more people will go and watch this film because of you? Oh, well, good. Right? You know, whether it's one or whether it's 100, whether it's 1,000, you're already doing something by giving Hannah, giving Hannah a voice. How did it go from filming something for fear that Bersinski's going to, like, not be around?

It was easy. It was easy. because when we came back from America, if Anna had like a scan and it was clear, we'd film it, put it on Facebook and just say, hey, we were sharing it. Then we got married. Guess what?

We filmed it. And then when she got sick again, well, again, we needed help. And I wanted to share the story. So it was all there. The only thing I had to do. So when Dr. Ray Silvesta said, rejoice in your suffering,

celebrating your suffering, I didn't know what he meant. I listened. I woke up in the middle. of the night and I just one night and I just thought I know exactly what I need to do. I need to finish what I've started because this hasn't ended. There's all these I did it for her friends. I did it for me. Did it for me. Let's be honest. I did it for me. But then I wanted to share it with some of her friends and families to say look look at look how it turned out. It was very

difficult especially the bit in the hospice. Yes. Can we just talk about that for a moment because that was incredibly moving and difficult and beautiful. But she knew I was there. She knew the camera was on. I wouldn't have done it if she had, which she, you know, a few days later, she, but like you were told, I was told by a therapist, don't stop talking to Hannah.

And I'd be there all day, all night, just saying, Hannah, I love you, you are love. So it was all there. And then a friend of mine helped me, Lindley, Gooden, just help kind of put it together. Then Ray said, I think you should put a bit of the beginning and a bit of the end. Yes. You know, just so you set a frame. I then showed it to Ben Shepard. And Ben Shepard said, I'll show it to my friend.

And my friend, his friend, I showed it to his friend, he was a filmmaker. And he said, enter into some film festivals. And I said, why? And he went, well, it's actually quite good. And it could win. And I'll go, but it's not a documentary like that. You see, yes, it is. So I entered it into loads of film festivals.

It got turned down from loads. And I suppose I was a bit disappointed. Then I got an email from the World Can Film Festival. I thought that was a joke. Honestly, I thought, this is someone having a joke here, saying it had been selected. And then, you know, it won. And then it's won 11 film festivals around the world,

which is, it's nice, it's nice, but it doesn't really mean anything. The meaning comes from people that choose to watch it and potentially be inspired by Hannah. Well, I think it's taking Hannah with you around the world. Like she'd be like, wow. Yeah. She would say to me, because I've thought about this a lot.

You know when you know someone really well? Yeah. You know someone like you kind of know yourself in a way. Yeah. We knew each other so well. well, you can't go through something like that and go to the darkest top places and go to some great places without then going, I know exactly what you want. And I know what she would want. She would say to me, show it to anyone you want as long as I don't have to watch it. She wouldn't

want to watch it, you know, and some people perhaps they don't want to watch it, and I totally understand that. But she would say to me, if you think it would help one person, show it to them. It is beautiful. It is a beautiful, extremely deeply. moving account of love. Yeah, love. And strength. Yeah. Resilience.

And honesty, it's very honest. That's the other thing I really liked about it. There's no showmanship in it. Because I think the idea wasn't to put it in a documentary. It's really real. Can I ask you something? Yeah, yeah. What would you like to see happen as a result of everything you're doing at the moment?

Oh, me. Yeah, the whole begin again. and do you want to know? Do you want to see what happens? I know you're going to start doing more things of bringing people together. I want to spread love. Yeah.

I want to show the world that there is love everywhere. Yeah. But we get fed a lot of anger. Yeah. Online and we get fed a lot of hatred and fury. But actually love is all around. Yeah. Which is a great song.

Yeah. I'm wet, wet, wet. Yeah. I'd actually quite like to ask you something similar. So what, you know, obviously the film is very important for people to see. But what's next for you? Like, where are you going in life? Where's life taking you?

So thank you for asking me that question. This forced me to, as you know, to stop and look at myself and stop. and stop to think really is my message to the world. I really want to share what life has taught me about slowing down, being more intentional. Intention to me is such a key word. But stop to think is my message because if we are able to, stopping is a big thing

for a lot of people, it might be too much. Just to even just to pause. Well, I was just going to say, what does stopping look like? If you're talking to just somebody you meet on the street, how would, how do they do that? We are literally brought up thinking, be productive, be quick, be on it, be, you know.

So stopping for me is stopping or suspending the out-of-date performance or suspending the out-of-date persona, just to suspend that for a while to be open to there's something beyond perhaps what's actually going on. And to deliver that message to people, I suppose it will hit home in different ways. But that's what we've done today, right? We've suspended what's going on out here. We've created some time and space for each other.

Who knows what's going to happen as a result of it? I think that's where a lot of magic happens. That's why I think people like podcasts. So you're asking me, you know, what do I want to see happen? I would like to see more people starting to stop and suspend maybe, elements of themselves that they thought they had to be and to be open to maybe there is more to me than meets the eye maybe I don't have to be in survival mode maybe I can be in a more contented space and I'm probably a bit like you

I want to see what happens I don't feel the need I have to push and sell or promote I just want to see what happens put the message out there and let's see what turns up. So when Hannah passed away after her funeral, the next day I flew to America and I spent time with my, you know, the second person that's come into my life is like a mentor, a coach, a friend. And we started recording the conversations. This was three years ago. We started recording the conversations. I didn't know why I was recording them, but I've now put them into a podcast. the first four episodes we recorded them recently and it's like anyone can listen to that

and just see the journey that I went on they can see how Stop to Think actually came to life and maybe it will make some people stop the thing What is the name of the podcast? Stop to think. Stop to think and where can they find it everywhere? Everywhere. Okay. But, you know, when someone pours into you there's nothing better than pouring into someone else

It's like that's what, again, it's called the hero's journey you know, you go on this journey, you become someone because of what, I don't think life is about, I think life is about becoming through overcoming. And what you've overcome, to me, is very inspiring. So anything that's thrown at you, you're going to go, well, I'm going to, I'm going to use this, and I will begin again. And I'll keep beginning again. And what am I going to learn?

What am I going to learn that I can then pass on to someone else? One of the things I've noticed since the film has come out is how many people actually care for people, have been messaged by so many people who say, thank you for shining a light on the people that care for others. And anyone that cares for someone who needs, I just want to say a massive shout out to all of you. What a wonderful thing to do. And the other thing is about grief,

that if you can find a way to keep the memory of the person that was in your life alive, I know it's not an easy thing to do, and it maybe takes a bit of time. But for me, I know that the people who aren't here anymore would want nothing more than for me to, if they were here now seeing me with you, they'd be going, wow, look what you did.

Look who you got to spend time with. You better make the most of this, you know, because we made this happen for you, maybe. I don't know. But this is a seminal moment in my life. You know, it really, really is, Davina. It's surreal. It's...

Can I also say something about caring for people that if you've been caring for somebody and they die, the whole that not caring anymore does. It's exhausting, it's emotionally exhausting, it's physically exhausting, it's like you just give everything you've got. And then when they go, the whole, the chasm that is left from not having to do that anymore. I didn't know who I was. Yeah?

Like how did you survive? Well, that's where I had to stop and really look at that. Right. I had to really look at it. outrun the grief was so painful that I had to address it. Everything else in my life I could run away from fear but grief was something I couldn't outrun. It's been the greatest present to me because it forced me to look at me in a way that I probably never would have looked at myself and seen what's been beneath you know some of the

trauma some of the challenges that there's something deeper about me and that that thing is it's It's just love. You know, that's all there is, right? I, that's what I believe. I'm going to wrap it there. I'm going to come over and give you an uncomfortably long hug. You're going to be like, oh no. No, I think there's, time for let go.

When it would get almost inappropriate, but I like playing that game as well. There's no such thing. So just in case you missed this episode here, if you love this episode, I know you're going to love that.