Actors Charley Webb and Jamie Lomas are grieving the loss of their beloved mother Helen after a 12-year battle with Alzheimer’s.
The soap star siblings announced their mum had passed on Mother’s Day, and this week, Charley, who played Debbie Dingle in Emmerdale for almost two decades, said saying goodbye almost broke her.
Charley told how she went to spend time with her mother in the chapel of rest and that while it was a difficult experience, she’s pleased that she did it.
Charley Webb with her mum, Helen. Pic: Charley Webb/Instagram
‘I know not everyone wants to do that when someone passes but it felt important for me,’ Charley said on Instagram, according to MailOnline. ‘It was actually much harder than I thought it would be and saying goodbye nearly broke me but I’m SO relieved I did it.’
Charley announced Helen’s passing two weeks ago, saying: ‘My beautiful Mum left us today on Mother’s Day. 15/03/2026. The past twelve years were stolen from us, that’s the only way to describe this feeling. ‘The long goodbye’
‘Thank you to everyone for all of your support, especially everyone that’s looked after her so well for the last 3 years. And to all of my closest people, I couldn’t life without you.’
Pic: Jamie Lomas/Instagram
Her brother Jamie, who is best known for playing Warren Fox on Hollyoaks, shared his own tribute alongside a slew of photos of Helen with her family taken over the years.
‘Sadly we lost our beautiful mum today on Mother’s Day,’ he wrote. ‘After a 12-year battle with Alzheimer’s, she finally decided it was time to leave us.
‘For anyone who knows what it’s like to have someone with this awful illness, you will know that you lose them not once but twice.
‘Our mum was always so strong and to watch her over the years slowly turn into someone who is just a shell of who they once were is very difficult to take and watch.
Pic: Jamie Lomas/Instagram
‘You are now at peace mum and we love you and we will miss you so so much. You were the first person to love me before the world even knew I existed.’
Jamie also paid tribute to his mum’s carers, writing: ‘I wanted to say a huge thank you to all the wonderful staff who cared for her on a daily basis and for those who helped her in some way. You truly are all amazing people.’
Both Charley and Jamie have been open about Helen’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, with Helen telling Good Morning Britain in February that her mum was diagnosed at 64.
Pic: Jamie Lomas/Instagram
Recalling the moment she knew something was seriously wrong, Charley said: ‘She actually forgot something quite huge, which is quite a personal thing.
‘And I just knew in that moment it was something that she wouldn’t have forgotten.
‘I think everyone around me at the time was like, you’re being dramatic, everything’s fine. I was like, “No, something is not right.”‘
Charley is very close to her big brother Jamie, often sharing snaps of them together. He also walked her down the aisle at her wedding to her ex-husband Matthew Wolfenden.