Actor Stephen Mangan , 39, has appeared in TV comedies Green Wing, Dirk Gently and now Episodes. He talks openly about his experiences of losing first his mother and then his father to cancer. My mum was diagnosed with colon cancer just after I left university . She was 45 years old and died six months later. I stayed at home and helped look after her. I was there through the entire experience -- the dismal days, then the hope, then the dawning reality that this was only going to end one way. The closer I get to 45, the more ridiculously early it seems an age to die. You feel so helpless when something like that happens to someone you love. It's nice to be able to do something. You're helpless in the face of the disease. The doctors are the ones battling the cancer but it's nice to be able to do something to help your loved one, so I was very grateful to be able to look after Mum. My younger sister was at  university at the time. When Mum was first diagnosed, we didn't know she was going to die. We hoped she would be cured. My sister wanted to leave university and come back but we didn't want to give wrong signals to Mum. Things might have looked very bleak  if my sister suddenly came back home. I was grateful to be able to be there every day and look  after her. The only good