SITTING in her living room dressed in pale blue pajamas and slippers, Sherrie Ann, mother of Love Island star Anton Danyluk, wiped tears from her face.
Her world had come crashing down after the sudden death of her beloved brother Martin, 21, in an accident.
Love Island star’s mother Anton Danyluk has revealed how a ghost stopped her from selling her business[/caption]
She saw her brother Martin as a ghost[/caption]
Anton and his mother created a new app together[/caption]
“I thought I would be forever lost in grief,” said Sherrie Ann, now 59, from North Lanarkshire, Scotland, who ran a popcorn business.
“It was mid-morning and I felt so alone.
“Then suddenly I felt the urge to look down the hall towards the back bedroom.
“The sun was shining and I was shocked to see Martin standing outside the bedroom window.
“He was beckoning.
“It was impossible because we had buried him a week earlier.”
Sherie Ann, who previously said she had never believed in spirits, did a “double take”.
“I looked outside again and heard Martin’s voice say, ‘Go to the office immediately.’ I was shaking and I thought to myself “Sherrie Ann, you are losing your mind”.
But the voice did not stop. Instead, he again told her to “go to the office.”
“Martin was screaming this time,” she said. “He was shouting ‘go to the office’.”
It was 1996 and personal trainer Anton, then four years old, who placed fifth in the 2019 Love Island series after finally being paired with Belle Hassan, was not at home.
“I was scared,” Sherrie Ann said. “The scary encounter was real,” my brother was talking about the grave. It was a ghost telling me to get up and go, stop crying and go to work.
“Instantly, I went from non-believer to believer.”
Sherie Ann pulled on her trench coat over her pajamas, grabbed her car keys and headed to the office of her company, MacCorns, Scotland’s first popcorn-making company.
She had started it five years earlier in October 1991 and at first it was really successful.
By 1995, the business-savvy mother had secured a lucrative contract with Safeway’s, then a major chain, and was soon shipping up to 35,000 bags of popcorn a day to the supermarket giant’s 240 stores across Scotland.
“The business was my life and Martin worked for me,” she said.
“He grew rapidly and was valued at millions of pounds when the supermarket contract was signed.
“I had 57 employees and was proud to have turned popcorn into a super snacking success.”
When Sherie Ann’s business received another £250,000 order for even more popcorn, the bank offered her another quarter of a million to expand into new premises.
Little Anton was running around the office and Martin was helping.
All the systems are gone, but tragedy has struck.
“In May 1996 I received a phone call saying that Martin had died in a car accident and that I needed to identify the body,” she said. “My whole world has collapsed.
“At the same time, the new £250,000 order was withdrawn without warning. I was lost in grief, focused on Martin and my parents.
“My team ran the business and I thought everything was under control until the ghost of Martin appeared.”
When Sherie Ann arrived at the office – commissioned by Martin – she was still wearing her pajamas.
She finds experts there thought selling the business for £1 to offset the £250,000 loan was the best economic decision to make.
Still grieving at home – having left running the business to others on a short-term basis, when she arrived at the office she feared it was being considered. “I knew I had to listen to Martin and put the business back first,” she said. “I told everyone that I didn’t want it to be sold. I opposed the plan and vowed to return to work.
“I explained that I would find another way to keep the business running.
“I convinced everyone that my idea and a renewed commitment was the solution.”
Sherie Ann said the family business was her “pride and joy”.
“And thanks to Martin, I managed to avoid the sale.
“I was able to renegotiate debt, fulfill open orders, fight for the business and focus on custom manufacturing.”
The popcorn maker agrees that trusting a ghost was a huge leap of faith, but she’s now converted to all things spiritual.
Because the advice worked – Sherrie Ann still owns MacCorns and now sells direct to consumer online.
She said: “When Anton appeared on the fifth season of Love Island in 2019, I knew the advice my brother’s ghost had given me to focus on family and a family business had come true. I could see Martin in Anton.
Sherie Ann is convinced that Martin’s presence always guides her and says she feels his spirit and guidance.
“Once you have had such a supernatural encounter, it changes you for the better,” she said.
Anton and Sherie Ann just launched an app called The Can Do Crew.
The app is a wellness program for the whole family and uses cartoon-style popcorn characters inspired by the life of Sherie Ann and the grief she experienced.
It encourages children to eat healthy, be mindful and exercise well.
“The app encourages families to take a leap of faith, to reconnect, to bond, and for children to take personal responsibility,” she said. “It’s inspired by my leap of faith when Martin’s spirit spoke to me and Anton appeared on Love Island.”
Anton found fame on Love Island alongside his co-star Belle Hassan[/caption]
New app aims to encourage kids to be mindful and exercise well[/caption]
