Sarah Roberts has opened up about the loss of her older brother Karl to brain cancer seven years ago.
In a moving Instagram reel, the former Home & Away star explained that it would have been her brother’s 52nd birthday this week.
“52 years ago, my mum was 19… only 19… and she gave birth to my brother,” she said. “I feel like my brother was my soulmate… he’s gone now, he passed away seven years ago.”
The 41-year-old went on to explain that he also died in October “so it’s a lot for our family to go through this month”.
“Lots of emotions, but grief is a crazy old beast, isn’t it?” she said. “When you lose someone, you strap yourself in on the rollercoaster to feel all the emotions, but what I’ve noticed upon seven years of reflecting is that I just feel an immense amount of gratitude today.
“I’m just so grateful that my mum gave birth to my brother and raised such a good man.”
‘I can still feel you here’: Sarah Roberts remembers her brother Karl on his birthday
She said Karl was “fiercely intelligent, super protective, really funny in a quirky way, like a dad joke kind of way, which I’ve also kind of inherited”.
The actress went on to say that even if she knew she was going to lose Karl young, she’d still choose him as her brother.
“I would choose that 100 billion trillion times to just have a brother like Karl, even if it was only for 35 years,” she said. “So I want to celebrate him today. Man, the world is not as bright without you around, but I can still feel you here on another frequency. Happy birthday!”
Karl De Abrew’s battle with cancer
Sarah’s brother, Karl De Abrew, died in October 2019 after a 15-month battle with brain cancer and just three months after he walked her down the aisle.
“Three months ago today he walked me down the aisle and now he is walking with the angels. I’m left with a hole in my heart and 34 years of beautiful memories… growing up together as children into adults,” she wrote on Instagram at the time, alongside carousel of photos of her and Karl at her wedding to fellow Home & Away alum James Stewart.
“You fought THE BRAVEST battle Big Squirt to the very end, and I promise to always live by your standards; to remember what you taught me, ‘it’s all about the journey, not the destination’ and ‘have no regrets’. I love you, I cherish you, I salute you. You can rest now, we know you’re dancing up there in the heavens, always watching down on us. Forever all my love, Medium Squirt x.”
Sarah and James decided to tie the knot at Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland, as Karl lived in Dublin, and was too sick to travel to Australia.
“I wanted it to be a celebration of love and the important thing for us is for our families to come together and for us all to be together and everyone to just have an enjoyable time,” she told Who at the time. “My brother lives [there]. He’s not able to fly at the moment because of health reasons.”
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