Florence Masebe on holding her son's body for an hour & finding the strength to carry on

Two years after Florence Masebe's life was turned upside down after she lost her 18-month-old son in a drowning accident, she has shared intimate details of that fateful day.

Speaking to Drum ahead of the official launch of her book The Heart Knows, the actress remembered how she was feeling as she held the lifeless body of her beloved son.

"Until that day, when I held my dead son in my arms for hour while waiting for forensic pathology to come and fetch his body, I had never imagined the pain a mother goes through when she loses the child she birthed."

Florence lost her son on the morning of her birthday two years ago when he fell into a pool and drowned at her Johannesburg home.

The veteran actress has withheld her story, grieving privately since she lost her son Masakona in 2015. However, Florence announced that she would be launching a book in which she has penned down poems where she shares her journey through grief.

The 44-year-old said on social media she hoped the book, which documents her time of mourning, would help other mothers dealing with the same pain.

 "I lost a huge part of me when I lost you my Prince. I still don't share much of that pain and grief with anyone outside my immediate world. When all seemed too dark to ever let any light in, my knowledge of your love gave me much needed strength. I know I'm not the only mother in grief. That is why I turned my loss into a book in your name. The heart knows," she said. 

Florence confirmed to TshisaLIVE that the book would be released on November 13 in Joburg (and November 16 in Polokwane). 

"It is a collection of poetic mourning or poems written during my time of mourning," she said.