Frans Gieselbach would do anything to get his brother here from Thailand in time so that he could say goodbye to their terminal father. Unfortunately it just didn’t work. Peter will only arrive in the Netherlands this weekend, father John died Sunday night. “Luckily he’s in time for the funeral.”
The bad news came a few weeks ago, Frans already said at the beginning of October. “My father suddenly lost a lot of weight. When we had to take him to the hospital after a fall, we found out that he had already planned three appointments for examinations. Well , they really don’t let a man in his 80s just come that way with his scooter.”
And indeed, not much later came the results. “Wrong thing. The lung cancer, which he had come on top in 2017, was back. And according to the doctor, he only had a few months left.”
What made things even sadder is that Frans’ brother Peter had to hear it all from a few thousand miles away. “He has been working as a tour guide in Thailand for 15 years. But because of corona he has been out of work for a long time. And unfortunately you have no UWV there. No work, no income.”
“He didn’t want to lie in bed because he was afraid he wouldn’t wake up.”
To get Peter this way, Frans started a crowdfunding campaign. “That so many people contributed, that was heartwarming. I want to thank everyone for that from the bottom of my heart.”
The money for the return ticket was therefore raised in no time. “A week or two ago we made the decision that Peter would come here on November 6,” says Frans. “At that time, my father was still doing quite well, so he should be able to manage that.”
But it has deteriorated sharply in recent days. “He was constantly fighting and trying to hide from us how much pain he was in. For example, the caretakers were not allowed to put him to bed, because he was too afraid that he would not wake up. He spent whole nights in the chair. spent in the kitchen.”
He finally gave in this weekend. “The moment he finally lay down, you saw how much he liked it. Sunday night I stayed with him alone. At one point I went to sleep for a while. When I went to see him at two o’clock in the morning, he was already left.”
“Even if I should have sat in front of that coffin, we won’t do this without him.”
The news hit Peter hard. “At that time he was in the middle of the jungle for a group trip. He has to entertain about twenty people there. Of course he told them. It just sucks.”
The only consolation at the moment is that Peter is in the Netherlands in time for the funeral, says Frans emotionally. “Even if I had to sit in front of that coffin, we won’t do this without him. Sunday evening he can see my father for a while, then we all close the coffin. We are grateful that we can still do that together to do.”