Graham Marshall
Donation protected
Hi, My name is Charlene.
On the 15th of November my handsome & funny Dad suddenly and sadly passed away. As a family we are all struggling to come to terms the loss which has hit us like a tonne of bricks.
10 years ago my dad moved out to America and got married and his been living there ever since with his wife. Due to financial reasons we haven't been able to see him for a very long time due to us being in the UK and him being in new Orleans.
We received a devastating call out the blue to say that he had collapsed and was being rushed to hospital with kidney failure and he was put on dialysis, but then we found out that he had a mass on his kidney which we later found out was renal cancer, he'd also had a stroke and had damage to his liver. The doctors did everything they could to make him better and save his life but it was just too late. The cancer had caused his body to go into multi organ failure and there was just nothing they could do for him except make him comfortable.
None of us knew he was sick because we don't think he even realised himself until it was too late, so all of this has just been a massive shock to everyone.
My sister managed to fly out there despite the financial strain and be with him to hold his hand until the last moment when we knew that he wasn't gonna make it and had only days left, but not everyone could afford this so we havent been able to have a proper goodbye with him. My sister is still currently still there now trying to get everything in order so we can bring him home to his family that loved him. We know this is what he wanted, as he told my sister this before he passed away.
Now we are in a position where we need to try and get him home so we can give him the send off he deserves but as a whole family this is something we are struggling to find the money to make happen. My sister has already had to spend money on flights and hotels that she just doesn't have.
My auntie (my dad's sister) is struggling with the grief, the money stresses which in turn could be detrimental to her own health as she's poorly with stage 4 cancer, and all of this as you can probably imagine is causing havoc on not just her mental health but her physical health aswell.
And on top of this his wife is also sick with cancer so she's also struggling to cope with everything too.
We're not a family that like to ask for help but in this instance we don't have much of a choice, we need to get my dad home to the UK, we need to get him cremated so that we can get him home in the safest possible way, we need to give him a well deserved send off and we just need some help to be able to make it happen or we don't really know what to do.
The grief is tough as it is, but with all this extra stress on top, it's just making it 10 times worse to handle. Especially knowing his so far away and if there's no way we can come up with the funds we can't make it happen.
So if anyone if willing to contribute and help I know our family will be so greatful and words can't express the gratitude we would feel. We are not expecting to raise all the money but every little helps.
Thankyou for reading.
All my love, Charlene
Organizer
Charlene Marshall
Organizer
England