It was 6.30 am when the telephone rang, my first thought was who in earth could be calling at this time and punched MadDad to answer the phone (as it was on his side of the bed).
He did and then time just stood still. He turned to me as white as a sheet and with the words "there has been an accident, your Dad is in hospital. We need to leave now" the day stood still.
We lived in Berkshire at the time and my dad was in Middlesbrough General Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit over 320 miles away. We got dressed, put the cats in their basket and drove stopping on the way to ring both works and explain that we were on the way to see my father.
We also had to make a call to The Mormon Temple at Preston as my brother was due to start his 2 year mission and we needed him to come and see dad too.
The journey home has never seemed so long and I have never ever played the CD again that played that day.
We got to the hospital before noon to find out that my mum had been with my father since the previous evening and that he was in an enforced coma, under heavy sedation and he had also been given drugs to paralyse him.
Everyday we went to the hospital to help with his care, hold his hand, read the paper to him and just chat. I learned to shave him and got used to seeing him with all the wires and tubes and even the ventilator going in to his neck rather than his mouth. I know what all the monitors meant and also what medication he was on. We all waited with hope.
Until the morning of 4th November, when we made the heartbreaking decision to turn off the ventilator due to the consultants advice as my dad had sepsis. He never regained consciousness. He died less than two minutes later in my mums, mine and MadDad's arms. My brother couldn't watch and had just left the room.
11 years ago today, I lost my father (rather than the day he died), the man I idolised and loved with every breath I took. I miss him more every day. I wish he could have met the boys, we named Maxi after him and I know he would love them just as much as I do.
