Our Father Gary John Hardy

Hello, my name is Angelina and I am my dad's eldest ❤️ my dad was born on 29/1/1954 and he has had a difficult life, he was diagnosed with polio at 2 years old and spent years in the hospital in an iron lung and almost loosing his limbs. He left hospital at 5 years old with very little use of his left leg needing a caliper to walk as a result.

He has struggled with his mental health his entire life, bipolar.

My dad was able to have a job as a taxi driver which he loved as driving was his freedom due to his disability.

He always put us first, working long hours to provide for us, until his mental health caught up with him again and he had a break down.

He never fully recovered from his recent breakdown but myself,mum, sister,brother and the rest of the family pulled together to help him be safe and alive ❤️

But, on the 23rd of April 2024 everything turned upside down.

My brilliant dad was rushed to hospital with what we first thought was sepsis. He remained in hospital for weeks after while doctor's fought hard to save him, he was scanned, poked and prodded as they tried to get answers.

Until one scan showed a "growth" in his bladder..at first we we're told it may not be cancerous, but they needed a biopsy to confirm but because dad was still too poorly with infections..they couldn't do anything but wait.. agonizingly wait.

In the mean time to try and give my dad some relief on his kidneys he had nephrostomy tubes placed to drain his kidneys, as well has being pumped with antibiotics.

June came around and my dad was rushed to bladder surgery as an emergency as they couldn't wait any longer.

The surgery confirmed our fears.

My dad had terminal bladder cancer

We were told due to how poorly my dad was, that it looked like we would have months with him left.

During this time we got to have what we now know was our last Father's day with dad.

My dad declined the day after fathers day and devastatingly my amazing dad, passed away on the 22nd of June

He was 70 years old

We are utterly heartbroken as a family, fighting for him for so many years, saving him and this time we couldn't save him.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 at 26 and my family were still trying to recover from my own diagnosis and then we get the horrendous news our dad had cancer too.

It's been an incredibly traumatic time for us all, watching dad decline so fast was terrifying.

We want to give my dad a great send off, he sacrificed so much for his family so we want to give him the send off he deserves.

Unfortunately, because of my dad's severe mental health he couldn't have life insurance and he lost all of his pension when he went missing during a manic episode.

Everyone knows funerals are expensive, we would appreciate any donations at all as we are not a family with money which my dad would hate me to admit.

So please, any donations of any kind would be very much appreciated, the kindness of strangers is a beautiful thing ❤️

Rest in peace daddy, we will miss you always and love you forever ❤️