Ben’s illness brought Dagbjört’s family back to Iceland

After her husband became critically ill, Dagbjört Barringer Gunnarsdóttir realised how vulnerable her family was without a support network nearby. She and her family have now moved back to Iceland after 12 years in the United States, mbl.is reports.

Dagbjört described the experience in an interview on Dagmál, mbl.is’s interview programme. Her family had faced a series of setbacks in the US: their house burned down, it was badly damaged by a sewage flood after being rebuilt, and Ben was seriously injured in a car crash.

She said she had tried to remain optimistic until Ben suddenly became seriously ill and was admitted to intensive care. Standing beside his hospital bed as he lay unconscious and connected to tubes and equipment, she feared he would die. Their son, Óðinn, was with her.

“I just felt it: I’m going to become a widow. This is it,” she said. She called her family in Iceland in tears. When she reached her father, he told her: “Dagbjört, you’re just coming home.”

Dagbjört said she initially hesitated to suggest moving, since Ben is American and had lived in the US all his life. But after he left hospital and began rehabilitation, he agreed that the family needed to be closer to support. They began preparing for the move and have now returned to Iceland.

After everything the family has been through, Dagbjört said she no longer wants to be the strongest or most driven person. “Now I’m just ready for Wednesdays, plokkfiskur and ordinary family life,” she said.