Thanks for your condolences

Many thanks to those of you who have sent messages of condolence at the recent death of my father.

I cannot say how shocked and stunned we all have been. It is still unbelievable as he was fit, healthy, took no medications and this tragic accident seems as if it was so avoidable. It has robbed us of at least 15 years more with him and my family and I are quite inconsolable, as he was in such excellent health, being well on the way to beating his mother's record of 98 years.

The autopsy was inconclusive as to the sequence of events that led to his death and so there will have to be a coroner's inquest which could take more than a year before it is held. My own view is that he was leaning to pick some oranges for me (at my sister's home which is only about 50 metres from my parent's home on their property)and he either tripped and hit his head on the galvanised pipe fence post, falling to hit his neck on the electric fence, the pulse of which then caused his heart beat to falter and stop OR he hit his neck on the fence and then hit his head and then his heart stopped. What the medical examiner did say is that there was absolutely no sign of heart disease, no arterio sclerosis, no sign of an exit site for electrocution so all of them a re ruled out but there was a slightly enlarged heart. Our view is that this was due to the extremely hard physical work he did all his life including working as a blacksmith from a young age with his father, but we may never know the real reason he died.

What I can say is that I tried very hard to bring him back when I found him lying on his side in the paddock about 10 to 15 minutes after he left my mother and I cooking dinner. Unfortunately, either I was just a few minutes too late and/or my attempts at CPR were not successful or not skilled enough. I hoped to bring him back but there was no heartbeat when I found him, although the small amount of blood on his forehead was still wet and warm which would suggest I was not long in finding him.

Anyway, we gave him a very good send off with close to 250 - 300 people in attendance at the funeral and graveside. I wrote the Eulogy (with additions from my sister, mother and brother) which my brother and I delivered and my sister read dad's favourite poem "Bannerman of the Dandenong" by Alice Werner. My sister and I organised the funeral and my mother and brother organised the organist and grave digger. It was a very personal but dignified service. My sister, Narelle, organised Waratahs from the Wollondilly shire, grevilleas from her father in law's garden and other native flowers through the florist which meant the flowers were just beautiful and special.

So dad is buried at St James Anglican Church in Luddenham, only 200 metres from where he lived all his life and from where he was baptised. He knew all the graves, where the stone ridge runs through the church yard and did a lot of work in and around the church. His parents, grandparents, sister, aunts and uncles, cousin and many others are with him there and while the cemetery has been closed, my mother, siblings and I will all be there in due course too.

Thanks once more for all your support whether that's been through email messages, phone calls, flowers, visits and hugs. I appreciate it very much. You've heard it, no doubt, a million times before, but something like this really makes you think about what you want to do with and how you want to live your life, because it can be so shockingly suddenly taken away. The message I take from all this is to cling to the good people and things in life, discard the irrelevant and think about living each week as well as you can.

Salut for now - Leanne