These are sad weeks for Frans Gieselbach from Tilburg. Not only is his terminal father deteriorating rapidly, his brother living in Thailand also threatens to miss the farewell. “We are now doing everything we can to get him here on time.”
The bad news came a few weeks ago, says Frans. “My father already had lung cancer in 2017. After heavy chemo and 35 radiation treatments, he finally got rid of it.”
Still, things have gotten worse in recent months for 86-year-old John. “My wife and I saw that he lost a lot of weight. Anyway, he was also on the water tablets, so we thought it might be that.”
“Wrong thing, he only had a few months left.”
This appeared to not be the case. “He fell a while back. We had to go to the hospital to see if his hip was not broken. It turned out that he had three appointments in a row planned for examinations not much later. Well, they don’t let an 80-year-old man just like that. coming that way with his scooter.”
At that moment Frans immediately realized that his father had hidden the bad news from them. “He wanted to spare us those worries.” Moments later, that was no longer an option. “After he had the results of those tests, he called me. Wrong thing, he only had a few months left.”
And that is doubly bad news, explains Frans. “My brother Peter has been living in Thailand for 15 years. He works there as a tour guide. Only because of corona has he been without work for a long time. And unfortunately you don’t have UWV there, just like here. No work, no income.”
“It is my father’s last wish to see him again.”
Because of that financial blow, a trip to the Netherlands is no longer a matter of course. Anything but. “He would prefer to come here twice. To see my father alive again, and for the funeral. Now it seems like he has to choose. You can hardly ask someone that.”
To get Peter to his father in time, Frans is now a crowdfunding started. “When I recently sent my brother pictures of my father, he was shocked. I think we should be happy if he still saves his birthday on November 19. It is my father’s last wish to see him again. him like that.”