What a Difference a Day Makes: Musician Jerry Fish on losing his cherished longtime friend 

On the cusp of adulthood, Jerry Fish lost a cherished longtime friend. He tells Helen O’Callaghan about a day when he strongly felt the continued presence of his friend – and how this experience was a guide for his life subsequently.

Jerry Fish: "My life was never the same again, but strangely in a very positive way. I felt a comfort, that we are only visiting, and life is really to be enjoyed, got into, not wasted." Picture: Marc O'Sullivan

He was from a Cockney family – David Brockwell – and I was Irish growing up in South London.

I met him in school, Keyworth Primary – we were five. He had beautiful blonde hair. I was the opposite – dark hair, freckles. I’ve had very few encounters like that – meeting somebody and immediately becoming best friends. We spent every day together – I’d walk him home from my place, and he’d walk me back to mine.