'I lost my husband at 32, now I've turned my life around by helping others'
A mother of two who was left grief-stricken after losing her husband to cancer has been honoured for turning her life around.
Laura Cox from Bilston, and her children aged seven and 14, had their lives shattered when her husband Ian died around four years ago from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
But her determination to overcome grief and mental health issues and get back into training saw her handed the Inspirational Learner Award at the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Adult Learning Awards on Thursday.
She started a civil service training course with skills provider Release Potential and now has a job as a learning support officer.
But she said she could never envisage being in the position she is in today during those dark days.
Laura said: “It has been hard. I’ve been through quite a lot, having to raise two children on my own after losing my husband and then suffering really badly with my mental health and anxiety and then having to push forward, trying to work out what I was going to do.
“At that point, I was locked in that situation and I was even questioning my own mortality.
