In Lieu of Flowers - John Patterson

John Patterson was in a terrible car accident on 11.12.22. He was pinned in his car, and it was with great effort from the emergency response team to get him out of the car and cared for. He was flight lifted from Alamosa hospital to a level 1 trauma center in Colorado Springs.

John sustained multiple injuries. He spent 25 days in the hospital, most of those days in the ICU. Once he seemed stable, he was discharged to The Life Care Center in Colorado Springs to begin rehab and heal. The family received a call from the Life Care Center on 12.8.22. John was found unresponsive that afternoon. Several rounds of CPR ensued with the medical team & the 911 emergency team, but they could not bring him back.

We are heartbroken to have received this news, and we are heartbroken to share this news. We all thought he was going to win this battle. It feels very unexpected, and at the same time we were warned that a blood clot or any other complication could come up at any time.

On 11/12 we thought we had lost him forever. We look at the last 26 days as a "gift of extra time". While watching him suffer was hard, it gave us time to be by his side. We got to hold his hand and kiss his forehead. We told him how much he is loved while we read your wishes, prayers, and comments to him. Jason played heavy metal as he bobbed his head. Mark made him and all of us laugh while being in an ICU unit. John told us how much he loved each of us, and how grateful he feels to have had all of you by his side all these years. These last moments with him and the outpouring of everyone's love and support leave us forever grateful to have been so surrounded by warmth and love. Not everyone is so lucky to have such final moments with their loved ones. John felt loved in his final days and is still spiritually with us. I know we all wanted more of him, and it feels unfair for him to have come so far...and to lose him so quickly. But quickly, he did go, and we are grateful that he no longer has to suffer or be in pain.

John's wishes were to be cremated and celebrated. A Celebration of His Life will be held in the summer months to give the family time to make travel plans and to enjoy that beautiful Colorado summer with friends and family. Below are the details of this gathering.

Date: July 1, 2023

Time: 11:00 am

Location: Ski Hi Complex-

2335 Sherman Ave

Monte Vista Co 81144

11a -12p Celebration of Life

12p-6p Lunch/ Reception/ Live Music

If you would like to share a story or say something at this gathering, we would love for you to do so. It will be an open format to share and we hope that many of you will stick around to continue to share your stories of John, dance, raise a glass and enjoy a beautiful day in memory of this wonderful man. This event will be catered and we will offer a cash bar.

With deep love and gratitude,

The Patterson Family

Please RSVP for this event via our Evite invitation: http://evite.me/4qU5GqsXBJ

Feel free to circulate this invitation and help us get the word out.

You can also text Leah Hansen (John's daughter) at [phone redacted]

In Lieu of Flowers, the family is asking for donations to help with the expenses of this event. If you feel called to donate; please click on the link to go to John's GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/8cad2bcb

Alternatively, a check can be written to Leah Hansen and mailed to:

205 Oceanforest Dr. N. Atlantic Beach Fl 32233