"Society should learn to empathise, rather than sympathise with those who lost someone to a chronic illness."

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"It’s OK not to be OK, and it’s normal to feel sad because of the huge loss of your relative and any future plans that died away with them,” Ms Spiteri noted.

Ms Bugeja recalled an incident of a woman who had survived her husband and compared being called a widow to wearing a dress she had not chosen, so she was not comfortable in it.

Society should learn to empathise, rather than sympathise with those who lost someone to a chronic illness.

While there is no set formula, the best way is to express sorrow and listen to them without using phrases such as “come on, be strong”. For some, being strong means not being afraid to cry.