Tracy King’s young life was blighted by her father’s killing: not only by profound grief and loss, but also abject terror, because she believed his killers — seemingly wrongly acquitted — roamed free near her home.

For 34 years this misunderstanding cast a malign shadow. ‘I thought my dad, Mike, had been killed with a karate chop to the head by the ring-leader of a gang of five violent youths who had fled the scene after the fatal attack,’ she says. ‘The dread, that I could be passing them in the street or at school, consumed me.’

Tracy stopped going to lessons, stopped sleeping and says she lived ‘in a state of constant exhaustion and fear’. ‘I didn’t know how to cope with the enormity of my feelings,’ she adds. ‘My Mum, severely agoraphobic and anxious herself, was ill-equipped to help me. I had a noise in my head like tinnitus or the buzz of a thousand bees. Our doctor prescribed sleeping pills.

‘I remember sitting by the side of Mum’s bed sobbing, holding the packet. I didn’t intend to take them. I didn’t want to die. I just wanted to stop the noise that plagued me.’

The trauma persisted, unresolved, into her adult life. Then, two years ago — when Tracy was 46 — she confronted it head-on. Writing her new memoir, Learning To Think, she decided to research her father’s death.

With astonishing courage, she arranged to meet Andrew Reynolds, the man she believed had killed him — it was a meeting that would shatter every conviction she had harboured.

Today, instead of clinging to the truth as she perceived it, she admits, with spectacular honesty, that she was wrong. ‘I met the man who killed dad… and I liked him very much,’ she says. ‘Andrew is a kind, thoughtful person without a shred of hatred or aggression. He told me how very sorry he was that he had struck the blow that ended my dad’s life.’

That was Tracy’s first surprise: Reynolds’ genuine contrition. But there was more: ‘Since I was 12, I had been convinced the dad I loved so much — my dear, kind, clever, flawed father, who was so engaged with my learning and taught me to be curious — had met a brutal death at the hands of an aggressor.

‘This belief tortured me for decades. But then, in 2022, Andrew’s story shifted my perspective on the events that changed my life that evening in 1988. It was liberating to know the truth at last.’

Today Tracy, 48 — a writer, producer and science communicator — lives in London with her partner and two cats. She is amiable, talkative, likeable, approachable.

She was a confident, irrepressible child — ‘rent-a-gob… a showbiz version of my more introspective older sister Emily,’ is how she puts it — until her beloved dad was killed.

The family lived hand-to-mouth on a council estate in the Midlands. Her father Mike, 44, a former RAF engineer, worked in a succession of low-paid jobs.

But Tracy remembers his questing mind: ‘He was interested in logic, puzzles, but also fostered my creativity. He took us on walks and we’d pretend to be hobbits or spies. He was also anxious, an alcoholic, and we were poor. We struggled to survive.’

Tracy’s mum, Jackie, loved writing, literature and poetry, but agoraphobia made her anxious and over-protective of her children.

The day Mike died began happily enough. Emily, then 14, had a local authority-funded boarding school place and she’d come home for a visit, so the family decided to celebrate with a rare takeaway.

Mike went to order the meal and called Jackie from a public phone booth to tell her he was going to pop into the pub as he waited for it. It was their last conversation.

When Mike didn’t come back, Jackie and the girls assumed he’d got waylaid in the pub, which wasn’t unusual. Later that evening, police arrived at the house to say Mike had collapsed and been rushed to hospital — where he was on life support.

‘I felt disbelief, dread and overwhelming fear,’ Tracy recalls. ‘The next day they turned off the life support machine. I wasn’t there. Mum didn’t want us to see dad in the hospital bed attached to tubes. I wanted to cry but shock doesn’t always show in tears. Every muscle was tense, my throat and chest a solid mass.’

Doctors told the family that Mike’s death had been caused by an aneurysm — a burst artery in the brain — a random ticking time-bomb which had exploded minutes after the phone call to Jackie.

Then came a fresh and horrifying twist: just as the family was adjusting to the shock of their loss, police arrived to tell them they were investigating Mike’s death as a potential murder. A manhunt was underway with 15 CID officers on the case.

A group of teenage boys had been sitting on a low wall close to the phone boxes taunting Mike, calling him names — until one, Tracy was led to believe, suddenly flew at him with a karate chop that instantly felled him.

‘Dealing with bereavement, I suddenly had a reason to be terrified, blinded by a fog of rage,’ says Tracy. ‘Life would never be the same again.’

Her overriding emotion, aside from sadness, was ‘abject fear’, her terror centring round the youths — 14-year-olds Reece Webster, Chris Hendon, Anthony Mears and Ian Burrows — she believed had been involved in the death, along with 17-year-old ringleader Reynolds.

‘We didn’t know these kids, other than Reece, a neighbour who had played with Emily and me. The vision of Dad being knocked out by Reynolds played over like a film reel as I tried to sleep. The police were adamant: Reynolds, a martial arts black belt, had landed the fatal blow.’

The five boys were arrested on suspicion of murder, held and questioned for several days. Four were then released without charge; Reynolds was kept in custody.

‘I’d been a teacher’s pet, a model pupil, but to get to school I had to walk past the spot where Dad had died,’ Tracy says. ‘A rumour circulated that the boys had made off on BMX bikes, running over dad’s head. Mum, plagued by her own fears, did not force me to go to school.’

It was over a year before her father’s case came to court. While her mother and the family went in to follow the proceedings, Tracy and Emily waited outside in the lobby.

The four boys would be called as witnesses, milled around the court precincts. Reynolds was held in a police cell. Tracy saw his parents sitting near them as they waited for the case to begin. ‘They looked like a nice couple,’ she remembers.

The trial was supposed to last five days, but on the second day it collapsed and Reynolds, to shock and fury, was acquitted of manslaughter.

‘All I remember was our family’s outrage, their contention that the whole thing had been a farce, a miscarriage of justice, their firm belief that Reynolds had got away with the killing.

‘I didn’t go back to school at all after that. I was too frightened of meeting the youths who were now – to my complete dismay — free to roam our estate.’

Instead, she educated herself with the help of her mum, who encouraged her love of reading: ‘I devoured the classics – Hardy, Orwell, Dickens — taking no interest in teenage hobbies such as fashion and boys.’

Tracy flourished academically, gaining qualifications in computer studies, and excelled in her first job, leaving with an impressive CV.

Until 2020, she continued to live uneasily with her dad’s brutal death. As well as the karate chop, she believed his assailants had fled after he collapsed.

When Tracy started to write her book, she began to question accounts, searching for the truth.

The idea of contacting the ‘gang’ — now all grown men — made her feel sick, but she quickly found Reece on social media. Assuring him she harboured no ill-will towards him, she suggested a Zoom meeting. To her surprise, Reece agreed.

‘As the screen flickered into life, there he was,’ she recounts. ‘There was no stabbing pain in my heart, no sickening lurch of recognition; just a slightly familiar man with a kind and unthreatening gaze.’

What Reece told her during their two-hour conversation was totally unexpected. In fact it overturned everything she believed.

Yes, the five teenagers had been sitting on the brick wall near the phone box and, yes, they had been taunting Mike — but far from being floored by a vicious karate chop from Reynolds, it was her dad who’d struck the first blow.

‘One of them, Chris Hendon, had apparently called him a slap-head; perhaps even said “f*** off old man” when asked to be quiet.

‘But after the call, Dad had retaliated by hitting Chris quite hard in the face. Chris tried to hit back but the punch did not really connect and Dad reeled backwards towards Andrew, who threw out his arm in self-defence. His fist connected with the side of Dad’s head. It was a hard hit — one of the boys heard my dad say, “Bloody hell, that was a good one,” before collapsing to the ground.

‘I was very calm when I heard this. Although Dad was a kind and loving man — he had never been remotely aggressive towards any of us — these events made sense.’

She tracked down and spoke to two more of the five men — Chris Hendon and Anthony Mears — finding their separate recollections persuasive.

‘They told me their memories, the subtle disparities in their accounts making them all the more convincing. There was nothing for them to gain from speaking to me. I respected them and I believe what they told me,’ she says.

In 2022, Tracy spoke to Andrew Reynolds on the phone.

She recalls the quickening of her heartbeat before the hour-long call, the huge effort of will and courage it took.

‘My heart hurt, my head was buzzing,’ she says. ‘The first thing he said was how sorry he was. He told me he’d been sitting on the wall that night waiting for his girlfriend. The boys weren’t a gang; they weren’t even friends. Andrew was 17 and came from an owner-occupied part of the estate.

‘After Dad had punched Chris, Andrew recalls he’d also kicked him in the stomach. Andrew had taken a swing in self-defence.’

Reynolds wasn’t a black belt in anything: ‘He didn’t jump off a wall and land a karate chop to the back of my dad’s head, but clumsily defended himself in the scuffle as my dad lunged towards him.’ Mike had then staggered away, fallen to his knees and collapsed. It was, she concedes, a very difficult conversation. 

But also ‘warm and positive’. ‘What happened had clearly affected him deeply his whole life. He told me barely a week had passed that he hadn’t thought about it, how he tried, in vain, to help my dad. I liked Andrew very much; for his genuine remorse, his sincerity.’

In late 2022 they met in a pub in the town where they’d both lived as children.

‘He seemed nervous, but as we’d spoken on the phone several times, I trusted him,’ Tracy adds. ‘I looked at his hands and thought about how the karate chop that had never happened had haunted me.

‘He said again how sorry he was and as we left I opened my arms for a hug. We parted as friends.’

They’ve since stayed in touch a few times a year via text. ‘I feel no guilt at all for liking him. He is a lovely man.’

Today Reece, too, remains a friend. ‘We talk regularly. I realise now he was a daft kid, not party to a murder.’

Reece’s life had been turned on its head by the accusation: ‘His grandmother never spoke to him again. His father disowned him.’

She now realises she misunderstood large swathes of her father’s death. Rumour and gossip added to the fear that consumed her. The police investigation had concluded that Reynolds probably acted in self-defence, which made his acquittal on manslaughter charges the right verdict.

And, perhaps most conclusively, the boys had in fact tried to help Mike when he fell — the police concluded they would’ve stayed at the scene until the ambulance arrived were it not for two adults who told them to ‘scarper’.

Does she forgive Andrew Reynolds for striking the blow that killed her father? ‘The fact is,’ she says, ‘I do not blame him. I think he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.’ After years of unresolved trauma over her father’s death she has now had therapy.

‘And knowing the truth about what really happened to him has been liberating,’ she says. ‘Actually, it has set me free.’

Some names have been changed. Learning To Think by Tracy King (£16.99, Doubleday) is out now

A single mother who was robbed of her life savings by serial conman Hamish McLaren has warned it could happen to anyone.

Tracy Hall, from Sydney, dated a man she thought was Max Tavita in 2016.

‘Max’, who was in reality serial fraudster and love rat Hamish McLaren, convinced her to set up a self-managed super fund that she thought was in her name during their 16-month relationship.

But in reality, McLaren unknowingly let her transfer $317,000 in savings and pension into his own pocket.

Ms Hall said she was a skeptical person who believed she could spot a scammer.

“I watched those stories on the news and watched them and I thought ‘I would never fall for that’ but here I am, I’ve lost my life savings to a man who pretended to love me and at the same time destroyed my life. me,” Ms. Hall told Sunrise.

McLaren has taken $70 million from dozens of victims worldwide, including Australian fashion designer Lisa Ho, by posing as an investment fund manager.

He was given a 16-year prison sentence for his crimes in 2019, later reduced to 12 years.

Ms Hall, who is writing a book about her experiences called The Last Victim, said she wanted to share her experiences to “educate people about the pitfalls of falling for scams and really just help empower people around their financial security and financial vulnerability’ .

“I don’t think you should go into every situation just looking for warning signs because that’s a pretty crappy place to live, but I think we all need to be more vigilant,” Ms Hall said.

“There’s not a day that goes by… where you’re not exposed to some form of scam and it’s probably not the magnitude of what I’ve experienced, but every day a text, an email.”

Ms Hall featured on The Australian’s award-winning podcast Who The Hell Is Hamish?, which explored how McLaren has been defrauding people since the 1990s.

She previously told the Sydney-based financial advisor Canna Campbell how the scam worked, claiming it was a “slow process of planting seeds.”

“He won my trust through the image he portrayed,” Ms. Hall said.

“The Max Tavita I knew was a Chief Investment Officer of a family office hedge fund, so there was a story that he had built over time.”

She said the pair had “countless conversations about financial strategies, pensions and hedge funds.”

Mrs Hall said he was ‘very vocal’ about ‘the banks and their pensions’, but because they had a committed relationship she thought this was all within his expertise and that he was ‘looking out for me’.

“It took quite a while for us to discuss anything to do with my retirement or my savings or anything, but it happened slowly and eventually I trusted him,” Tracy said.

By the time he went to prison, Tracy had given McLaren “$317,000 of her life savings.”

‘I had been working for 21 years. It was a combination of my pension – which was the biggest part – and some savings I had built up. It was my life savings,” Ms Hall said.

When she realized what she had lost, Tracy said she had reached her “lowest point.”

Her book, The Last Victim, will be published in May.

King Con: The Life and Crimes of Hamish McLaren airs on Sunday at 8pm on Channel Seven and also on 7plus.

Update: 2/13/24 at 3:00 PM ET.

Chapman's success continued off the iTunes chart and into the Billboard Hot 100. Her original version of “Fast Car” re-entered the charts 35 years after its initial release, reaching No. 42 on the chart for the week of February 17. The number was sandwiched between Gunna'Fukumean' and Paul Russell'Lil Boo Thang'.

Chapman's “Fast Car” turned out to have more gas in the tank. A week after topping the iTunes chart, it remained a Top 10 hit. On February 13, it was positioned between Cyrus' 'Flowers' and Usher's 'U Got It Bad', a song that enjoyed a huge sales boost following its headlining performance at the halftime show of the 2024 Super Bowl.

Original story:

You have a fast car, Tracy Chapman has a plan to get out of here – and now a #1 song on iTunes.

Chapman, 59, appeared at the 2024 Grammy Awards on February 4 and performed Luke Combs for a duet of 'Fast Car'. Combs' cover of Chapman's 1988 hit dominated country radio and earned accolades at country music awards shows, so the moment at Sunday's event was a chance for her to collect her flowers from the crowd gathered at the Crypto.com- arena and from those watching at home.

It was also a chance to remind viewers that Chapman's original version of the song was available on iTunes, and soon her original “Fast Car” topped the platform's charts. As of Monday, February 5, Chapman's “Fast Car” was No. 1 on iTunes' Top Song charts, ahead of the new Grammy winner Miley Cyrus (“Flowers”), Billy Joel (“Turn the Lights Back On”) and Combs' rendition of “Fast Car.”

Chapman's 1988 self-titled debut, which included “Fast Car,” also rose to No. 1 on the Top Albums chart, surpassing Taylor Swift's latest Album of the Year winner, Midnights. Chapmans Greatest hits compilation was at number 3.

The original “Fast Car” peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon its release in 1988. It was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 1989 Grammys, winning the latter. Tracy Chapman was also up for Album of the Year. Although it lost to George Michael'S To trustthe self-titled album won the award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

In the 35 years since Chapman's debut, her legacy has grown (thanks in part to her rare public appearances, which made her duet at the 2024 Grammys even more special.) “Tracy Chapman is such an icon, and one of the greatest artists I've ever heard of.” have ever seen. I think one of us will be there to see it,” Combs said in a video about Chapman's legacy and the impact “Fast Car” has had since its release. “For me the circle is complete. Just to be associated with her in any way is super humiliating to me.

Comb's rendition of “Fast Car” from his 2023 album Getting oldearned a nomination for Best Country Solo Performance at the 2024 Grammys. It lost to Chris Stapleton'The White Horse'.

Other songs that enjoyed a post-Grammy bump were included Billie Eilish'What was I made for?', Joni Mitchell'Both sides now' and Olivia Rodrigo'Vampire'. Eilish, 22, Rodrigo, 20, and Mitchell, 80, also performed at the ceremony.

Tracy Chapman made an incredible comeback at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday with her 1988 debut single Fast Car alongside Luke Combs, the country crooner who helped revive it in popular culture.

And yet the four-time Grammy winner – who turns the big 6-0 next month – prefers a secluded lifestyle and has managed to keep her personal life very private.

“I have a public life, which is my work life and I have my personal life,” Tracy explained back in 2002.

'In a way, the decision to keep the two things separate is related to the work I do. I don't think I would have anything interesting to write about if I didn't give myself time to live a life, hang out with my friends, read a book, or travel somewhere I've always wanted to go. wanted to see. It can be a very strange or surreal lifestyle to go from one hotel room to another as a musician.'

Chapman never officially came out as a lesbian, but in the mid-1990s she began a love affair with The Color Purple author Alice Walker.

At 79, the Pulitzer Prize winner is 20 years older than the Ohio-born musician, but she “loved” their “delightful” under-the-radar romance.

“It might have been quiet for you, but that was because you didn't live in our area,” Alice said The guard in 2006.

“It was lovely and beautiful and wonderful and I totally enjoyed it and I was totally in love with her, but it was no one's business but ours.”

The Broadway musical of Walker's novel was adapted into Blitz Bazawule's budget of $100 million critically acclaimed film The Color Purple, which earned just $64.1 million at the worldwide box office last year.

Meanwhile, Tracy's version of Fast Car just shot to No. 1 on the iTunes Top Songs chart, and her self-titled debut album also landed at No. 1.

Luke's Fast Car cover topped Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart and scored a CMA Award last November — making Chapman the first Black woman to achieve both.

“I never expected to be on the country charts, but I'm honored to be there,” the former street artist said. Billboard last July.

“I'm happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced Fast Car.”

The North Carolina-born 33-year-old ultimately lost the Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance to Chris Stapleton for his song White Horse.

But Luke will next compete for five trophies – including song of the year for Fast Car – at the 49th People's Choice Awards, airing on February 18 on NBC.

Tracy had not been seen in public since she virtually performed her 1988 song Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution on The Late Show with Seth Meyers four years ago to encourage voters to participate in the 2020 presidential election.

Chapman – who released a Greatest Hits in 2015 – has not released new music since her eighth studio album Our Bright Future in 2008.

The Give Me One Reason singer will next be honored with the Elaine Weissman Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 International Folk Music Awards, which will take place on February 21 at the Westin Crown Center Hotel in Kansas City, MO.

Tracy Chapman knew exactly how she wanted to perform her duet Luke Combs to life at the 2024 Grammys.

“She had a vision and asked Luke his thoughts,” Combs' manager said. Chris Kappytold Rolling stone in an interview on Friday, February 9. “Then they just kept running through it and running through it. It was a fun way to see two artists create the moment we would all experience together at the Grammys.”

Chapman, 59, and Combs, 33, teamed up during the Feb. 4 ceremony to perform Chapman's 1988 hit “Fast Car.” Combs' cover of the song, which served as the second single from his fourth studio album, Getting oldhas dominated the country music charts since hitting the airwaves in 2023. It has also received numerous accolades, including a nomination for Best Country Solo Performance at this year's Grammys.

Combs and Chapman ultimately decided to perform the original version of the song after talking for just 20 minutes before their first run-through. It required Combs to sing in a lower key, but according to Happy, the musician was not concerned about the changes.

“All of this was done to celebrate the amazing woman, songwriter and artist that she is,” he said. “The whole opportunity for us to even be on a stage with Tracy Chapman, that's what it was all about.”

Their duet also marked the first time Chapman and Combs met in person – and Chapman's first awards ceremony in years.

“[Tracy and Luke] were supported by key figures behind the scenes, including David Kershenbaumwho produced Tracy's debut album – and together the collective experience and talent in that room created a unique and beautiful new version of this beloved song,” Chapman's friend and SVP of Nonesuch Records, Matthew Rankintold the outlet, calling it a “significant and emotional moment” for everyone involved.

“Ultimately, the execution speaks for itself,” Rankin continued. “Especially the interaction between Tracy and Luke and their expressions, which tell you everything you need to know about how they felt.”

Rankin noted that everyone involved knew they were “working toward something special” in creating the moment, which ultimately became “everything” the musicians hoped for. “The subsequent response has been incredible and exceeded our expectations in many ways,” he added.

Following Combs and Chapman's captivating performance—which earned a standing ovation from the Grammy audience—the original version of “Fast Car” shot to No. 1 on iTunes' Top Song charts, earning Combs' own Grammy -nominated rendition of the song. song.

During its initial release, “Fast Car” peaked at number 6 on the US charts Billboard Hot 100. At the time, it was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 1989 Grammys, winning the latter. Chapman's self-titled album was also nominated for Album of the Year. It ultimately lost to George Michael's To trustbut took home the best contemporary folk album.

Chapman said Billboard in July 2023 that she was happy to see Combs' version of “Fast Car” introduce the song to new listeners.

“I never expected to be on the country charts, but I'm honored to be there,” she said. “I'm happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced 'Fast Car'.”

Combs, meanwhile, told the newspaper he was happy that Chapman received a new wave of recognition from the cover. “The success of my cover is unreal and I think it's so cool that Tracy is being recognized and has achieved new milestones,” he said. “I love that she feels all the love there and she gave me a shout out! Thanks, Tracy!”

After making waves at the Grammys, Combs took to social media to express his gratitude to Chapman.

“I'll have more to say about last night when I've had a chance to process it,” he wrote via his Instagram Stories alongside a photo of the pair on stage. “All I can say now is: thank you Tracy and thank you @recordingacademy for letting me be part of a truly remarkable moment. I am very grateful. ''

Jesse Lee Soffer and his former Chicago co-star Tracy Spiridakos have reportedly been dating for a while, in a case of life imitating art.

The 39-year-old actor and the 35-year-old actress’ characters — Senior Detective Jay Halstead and Detective Hailey Upton — secretly tied the knot during the ninth season of the NBC police procedural in 2021.

A source told the New York Post Monday that the coy couple has “been secretly together for years.”

Jesse originally met Tracy (née Panagiota) on set when she joined the Chicago PD ensemble during the fourth season in 2016.

Soffer and Spiridakos publicly called each other ‘the best’ Instagram messages from 2023 and 2022.

“You are the absolute best. Thank you for your kindness, your guidance and your friendship,” the Canadian-Greek beauty flowed after the New York native filmed his final episode in 2022.

“You are the best on-screen husband a girl could ask for. I will miss being on set with you every day. I can’t wait to see what the world has in store for you next.”

When Jesse returned to the set in February to make his directorial debut in the sixteenth episode of the tenth season (airing March 22), Tracy said he “killed it” and “we’re all so proud.”

Soffer has made a habit of dating actresses in the Chicago universe, including a nine-month romance with Chicago Med star Torrey DeVitto that ended in 2019.

The three-time Daytime Emmy nominee also previously dated his former Chicago PD co-star Sophia Bush from 2014 to 2015.

Meanwhile, Spiridakos enjoyed a brief engagement to her Being Human co-star Jon Cor, which ended in 2013.

Jesse’s character abruptly left Illinois for Bolivia in his final episode – titled ‘A Good Man’ – which aired on October 5, but there’s a chance he could return for a cameo.

‘Never say never. I feel so sorry for the fans who are thinking, “Is he coming back?” “What’s he going to do?” “What’s going on with him and Hailey?” Soffer said Variety last February.

‘I like to think – and I hope the fans think this too – that he is now just in another country, doing what he does best: making the world a safer place. Sometimes someone in a family moves or goes to study somewhere else. I still love it. I still love the fans. And I still love Halstead. Halstead will always be in my blood. That will never change.’

On October 24 Variety revealed that the eleventh season of the Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead procedural — which premiered on NBC on January 17 — would be Tracy’s last.

By A. James for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 02:23 EST, December 5, 2023 | Updated: 03:05 EST, December 5, 2023

Karlie Kloss broke down in tears while discussing her breast cancer survivor mother, Tracy Kloss, as she united with other survivors in an Instagram clip.

The supermodel, 31, was promoting the Bobbie Initiative, which helps provide mothers affected by breast cancer with baby food.

In a clip posted to Bobbie’s Instagram page, Kloss broke down in tears as she talked about her mother’s diagnosis, nearly three decades after overcoming the disease.

‘My mother was 35 years old when she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. And so her strength, and your strength, remains with me,” she shared, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

Karlie – who was recently spotted with husband Joshua Kushner – then spoke to some other breast cancer survivor mothers who had signed up for the Bobbie Breasties initiative, asking them to share their stories.

“I had the great opportunity to read some of your interview stories,” she told the ladies during the call. “So I want to talk to some of you and let you share some of your own story.”

The women then bravely discussed their struggles as the model listened.

Karlie later commented on the clip, writing: “Thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of this Extremely grateful for my Breasties community!”

The caption of the post read: ‘Welcome our new Bobbie Breasties 2023-2024 to the Bobbie Fam. We are so proud to be able to provide these 121 survivors and previvors of breast and gynecological cancer with a year’s supply of Bobbie.’

“This year is extra special because we have 14 returning Bobbie Breasties – it’s an honor to be a part of their journey and watch their babies and families grow.”

‘Did you know that parents who have undergone a double mastectomy receive breast pumps and breastfeeding support from the insurance, but no donor milk or infant formula? That’s why we’ve made it our mission to help as many of these parents as possible.’

‘We cannot bring about change alone. Thank you to our partner @the_breasties for helping make this possible, and to Bobbie MotherBoard member @karliekloss, who has been a living advocate throughout her life after watching her mother undergo breast cancer treatment.”

Karlie has often been an advocate for breast cancer awareness.

In 2021, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, she wrote: “Breast cancer in women is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide. My mother received that diagnosis 25 years ago. Not a day goes by that my family and I are not deeply grateful for my mother’s continued good health and the work of the countless brilliant minds dedicated to breast cancer research.”

In a 2017 issue of In styleKloss revealed how much she idolized her mother after watching her battle and survive the disease.

“She battled a very aggressive breast cancer when my three sisters and I were young. She survived by the skin of her teeth. I grew up completely idolizing her. She’s so strong,” she explained.

And in a clip recapping her best moments from 2015, she recorded the day she ran the Race for the Cure in New York City with her mother and sisters.

Karlie previously revealed she has been getting mammograms since she was 25, as she walked her fans through the procedure and encouraged them to get checked too in a TikTok video.

And in 2021, the star proudly shared a photo of three generations of the family – Karlie, her first-born child – son Levi, two – and her mother, all together in a field.

In July, the former Victoria’s Secret model gave birth to her second son Elijah with husband Joshua, whom she has been married to since 2018.

Michael J. Fox says he would have forgiven his wife Tracy Pollan if she had decided to “step out” during their 35-year marriage as he struggles with Parkinson’s disease.

“She would have been forgiven at any point if she had said, ‘I’m just going to get out,'” the 62-year-old actor said Thursday. CBS mornings of his wife, 63. ‘But she didn’t do that.’

The Back To The Future star was 29 in 1991 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and made the information public in 1998.

“I obviously love Tracy and she’s a great person and has been through a lot,” Fox said. “I realize she has a life separate from the fact that I have Parkinson’s, and I’m Alex Keaton or Marty McFly, she’s a person. I think that’s why it went well.’

Fox said of their marriage: ‘She had told me by saying, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. She was able to guide me through it and go through it with me. And she has been doing that for 35 years.’

Fox and Pollan are parents to son Sam Michael, 34, twin daughters Aquinnah Kathleen and Schuyler Frances, 28, and daughter Esmé Annabelle, 21.

On the CBS broadcast, the Spin City star explained how Pollan has remained by his side amid his health issues.

“We knew the bus was coming and we knew it was going to hit, but we didn’t know how far it was or how fast it was going,” he said.

The couple celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary last July and took to Instagram to commemorate the occasion.

Fox, who also played Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties, captioned a carousel of shots: “35 years of laughing, living, listening and loving you @tracy.pollan.” Thanks for everything. Forever yours, Mike.”

Pollan said of her: ’35 years!!! Happy birthday my love. Here’s to many more glorious adventures together. I couldn’t love you more.’

Fox told CBS that despite his health problems, he is doing his best to remain optimistic.

“The positivity is really genuine,” he said. “I really feel it, and it’s real. But it’s hard-fought and hard-won, I would say.”

The Teen Wolf actor gave more insight into how he and his wife are moving forward during these difficult times.

“We can find ways to give ourselves a break, to give ourselves credit for getting through life on life’s terms,” he said. “And to do that, you have to stop and say, ‘It’s not that bad; it’s not that bad’… they say the absence of fear is faith.’

He launched in the fall of 2000 The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Researchwhich ‘is committed to finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease through an aggressively funded research agenda and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for people living with Parkinson’s today.’

According to the foundation, it has raised more than $1.75 billion for charity.

“Parkinson’s patients are the experts of what we have,” Fox said in a statement on the foundation’s website. ‘As patients we have a responsibility to share our experiences; what works for us, what we respond to, what we can contribute to research.’

Fox was honored last year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with an honorary Academy Award, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, for his efforts to find a cure.

Tracy Grimshaw is making a rare public statement after raising concern with a series of alarming Instagram posts

By Mary Mrad for Daily Mail Australia

published: 00:25 EDT, Jul 6, 2023 | Updated: 01:26 EDT, Jul 6, 2023