Dr Alex George pays tribute to his late brother Llŷr on what would have 20th birthday

Dr Alex George paid tribute to his late brother Llŷr on what would been his 20th birthday on Instagram on Friday. 

The former Love Island star, 30, tragically lost his brother to suicide last July. He was aged 19 and just about to start medical school. 

Posting a photo of a 14-year-old Llŷr at his graduation, Dr Alex wrote of how he hoped his brother ‘was proud of me’ and how ‘it is impossibly hard at times’ following his death.  

Dr Alex wrote: ‘Today would be your 20th birthday. You were 14 in this picture. I remember how proud you were of me graduating as doctor. 

‘You ran up to me after the ceremony with the biggest smile. I was so excited for you to follow in my footsteps, you would have been the most amazing doctor. 

‘Although I would never admit it to you, in honesty you were the smarter of the two. 

‘We are ten years and four days apart, this was supposed to be the start of your 20s. You would have loved medical school and gone on to achieve so much. 

‘The very kindest of souls. We had so many plans for road trips, adventures and enjoying cars. 

‘I think about you every single day my boy. It is impossibly hard at times, we miss you so much as a family. I have always been so proud of you. 

‘I hope you are proud of me. Love you my boy x’

Dr Alex also took to his Instagram stories. He wrote: ‘I think Birthdays will always be hard. Off to A&E today so I will be amongst family. 

‘Thank you for the kindness x’.

The television star’s celebrity pals took to the comments section to show their support. 

Jack Fowler, Vicky Pattison and Gemma Collins all sent love heart emojis, while Samira Mighty typed: ‘I love you’.  

In a candid interview for G2 in The Guardian this week, Dr Alex admitted that throwing himself into work has helped him to cope with his brother’s tragic passing, as he still finds it ‘tough’ when he actually stops to think about it. 

He said: ‘I think of grief as a little black box in my head. That box, it’s always in the house. You’re not focused on it, but it’s always there. 

Dr Alex said: ‘I think we are all aware of our flaws, and I am very aware that I’m a natural workaholic.’

The star admitted he had his own struggles with depression while living away from home at university, saying that he gradually isolated himself from others and stopped going outside until his family stepped in.

After some guidance from his parents, Dr Alex said he took up exercise and began eating well and in the span of a month his mental health began to improve.

The star said the due to his work on the NHS frontline during the Covid pandemic he’s become ‘normalised’ by the sight of death but is still spurred on in his promotion of mental health awareness. 

After a meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson the star has been appointed the youth mental health ambassador for the government.

And in a recent interview with MailOnline Dr Alex said he’s been ‘overwhelmed’ by the outpour of support after initially fearing the public’s reaction – and says he’s even been congratulated by the likes of healthy food campaigner Jamie Oliver, 45.

Speaking about the reaction from his parents, he said: ‘They are very proud. We are never going to get over what happened with my brother. To have something positive come from it feels amazing. It really, really does.

‘They’re just proud really that I can do something positive. It isn’t a PR stunt – I want to actually make some changes. The pressure is now on. 

‘I didn’t know how people were going to react, obviously there are people that have multiple letters after their name and I’m just someone that wants to help and it sounds cliché but I do just want to be able to do my bit.

‘But I’ve had such overwhelming support from doctors in the area, experts, students and teachers, the general public. Jamie Oliver congratulated me; it’s just amazing.’