Rob Delaney marks 17 years of sobriety with touching post about late son

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Comedian Rob Delaney has marked 17 years of not drinking by posting a moving message revealing that his sobriety helped him cope with his son's recent death.

The 'Catastrophe' star took to Twitter to mark his teetotal anniversary on Monday (04.02.19) by telling his 1.54 million followers that he believes the passing of his two-year-old child Henry in January 2018 would have been a tragedy made even worse if he had been abusing alcohol.

Referencing the serious car accident he had in 2002 which inspired him to get sober, his post read: "As of today I've been sober 17 years. 17 years ago I was in jail in a wheelchair. Today I'm not. I am profoundly grateful to the alcoholics who shined a light on the path for me and helped equip me with the skills to live life well. This has been a brutal year for my family and me. Our first year without our son and brother Henry. Had I not been sober it would have been far worse. As it was, I squeaked by. Sobriety allowed me to be a reasonably good dad, husband and worker through it all. (If you average it out. I think.) Sobriety allows me to grieve fully, and grief is an expression of love. Thank you to everyone who has helped me. I can't do it alone."

Rob and his wife Leah welcomed a baby boy into the world in August. They also have two other sons.

Speaking about the arrival of their baby just a few months after Henry's tragic passing, the American actor said: "We likely would've had a fourth anyway. But I mean, there's mixed feelings.

"It's sort of like they touch each other a little bit, but they almost exist in separate lanes. Having another child in no way, shape or form eases the grief of Henry dying. [But it also] doesn't make our new son any less magical. I want to gobble him up and he deserves our full attention and love, and he grew in the same womb as Henry."

In 2016, Henry was diagnosed with a brain tumour and although he underwent surgery to remove it in early 2017, the cancer subsequently returned and he passed away from his illness at the start of 2018.