Dad

My Dad died at 8.30am yesterday (Thursday 18th September). It was a shock to lose him like that, especially as the surgery had gone so well and he'd escaped the stroke & death possibility, that the surgery held. He spent 5 weeks in ICU at Royal Perth Hospital and had nothing but praise for all the doctors and very dedicated nurses who looked after him.

They had shifted him to the coronary care ward on Wednesday as he was having such difficulty getting any sleep in ICU with all the lights and noise that it requires for that place to operate. He'd had his trach tube taken out on Tuesday of this week and was in good spirits and so happy again to be able to talk to his many visitors that went to see him on Tuesday evening. Everyone was so positive about how he was going and how well he was looking and sounding.

Mum called me at 5.38am yesterday morning and said the hospital had called to say he'd deteriorated and we'd better come in. When we arrived the Doctor's said they had done tests and he had developed a lung infection that he was really struggling with. They decided to put him on antibiotics to see if it would shift but when we walked into the room we were shocked to see how he was struggling to breathe. His oxygen saturation was supposed to be around 92-96, it was down to 60 and his heartrate was around 138 beats per minute. He couldn't talk but we could see that he was in great distress trying to hang on.

Ultimately, he just couldn't battle on any longer and his heart that the surgeons had repaired so wonderfully just couldn't take it any more. So we go on, with wonderful memories of a great man who touched so many lives.

As you can see in the photo above, his love of funny moments (& silly hats) started early in his life, that's my Dad in the right with the man who would become my Godfather on the left. This photo was just before he met my Mum and he died just 2 months short of their 50th wedding anniversary. Luckily we have a huge family and there is so much love and support for us(particularly Mum as she has 4 sisters and 4 brothers). We plan on a happy, celebratory funeral for him next Thursday, as was his wish.