The day my father died

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On the evening of October 11, 2016 at around 7 pm, I was about take my evening bath and plan to sleep early when my phone rang. I answered it and it was my mom. She told me that my dad was having problem breathing. I was panicking when I asked her, "Where is dad now?  What is he doing?". She replied, "He is sleeping now but I am scared". I said, "Okay, wait for me and I'll be there in a few minutes." 

I hurriedly went to my car and I made all the necessary preparations to rush my dad to the hospital. When I reached my parents' house, the door was locked unfortunately I left my keys somewhere in my house. My mom who is already weak due to old age and because of her Parkinson's Disease, slowly reached for her own keys and went outside the house with her walker so she can open the gate for me. It really broke my heart watching her as she struggled to walk towards me, but I waited patiently. As soon as she opened the gate, I helped her walked her way back inside the house. Once inside, I told her to rest in the couch while I attend to my dad. When I entered my parent's room, I saw my dad laying in the bed with froth of saliva in his mouth. I shouted at the top of my lungs, "Dad!" as I ran towards him crying. My whole body was shaking and I have no idea on what to do. My hands was trembling as I look for his pulse. His body was still soft but cold. I shook his shoulder while shouting, "Dad wake up! wake up!" I have no knowledge of doing CPR but nevertheless I pumped his chest will all my might and hoping for any positive response from him. I suddenly heard my mom entering the room and I told her crying, "Mom, dad might be gone already." She said in a soft voice, "No, try reviving him, he is just sleeping." I tried pumping his chest again, this time my tears are intensely flowing in my eyes. After a few minutes, I stopped and I started crying helplessly as I told my mom who is already beside my dad, "Mom, dad is gone." She answered in a soft cry, "What will happen to us now?" I did not answer.

I called my older brother and told him about dad. He arrived in my parents house together with his wife, who is a nurse by profession. My sister-in-law once again performed CPR but we still got no response from my dad. We tried calling 911 and surprisingly said service was working. The 911 operator gave us instructions on what to do as we wait for the response team to arrive. Ambulance came in less than 15 minutes. They again performed CPR using their machine. They knew that my dad was already dead but they politely asked us if we still want our dad to be brought to the nearest hospital. Since we do not know the correct protocol was, we just said yes. They carefully loaded my dad to the ambulance and my brother accompanied them to the hospital. 

Me and my mom were left in the house - still shocked with the sudden event. I then received a call from my brother who just arrived in the hospital and told me that the doctors officially confirmed that my dad was already dead upon arrival. The hospital was also asking him to immediately remove my dad's corpse otherwise they will send his body to their accredited funeral home. I knew my dad has a memorial insurance plan but I have no idea what company was it and I have zero knowledge on the procedure on how to avail such service. Since I was still in the state of shock, It never crossed my mind to search for my dad's file to look for his insurance contract and have no intention to read or even interpret his insurance policy. My only goal that moment was to transfer my dad to a reputable funeral home so we can laid him to rest with grace. With that in mind, I searched the internet and looked for a reputable memorial service for my dad. I saw St. Peter's Chapel-Novaliches and luckily the place was also near our area. It was already 11:00 pm when I called their number. I was praying that someone will entertain my call considering it was already close to midnight. To my surprise, a nice lady entertained my call and she gave me a detailed step-by-step procedure on how to avail their service. She even consoled me during moments when I would pause to cry. I will forever cherish the services of St. Peter Chapel Novaliches. I felt their presence during the darkest time of my life. The services of St. Peter was so seamless and very organize. We never encountered any single problem during the entire duration of the memorial service. The facilities of their chapel were very clean and their staff were very professional.   Truly a world class service. They are truly a DeathCare expert company! And by the way, my dad was not a St. Peter Chapel plan holder, imagine we got all those wonderful services even if my dad was a non-policy holder! 

That's why I am planning to get a memorial plan from St. Peter. I will also encourage my two siblings to follow me as well. Again, maraming maraming salamat sa inyo St. Peter Chapel! More power to your company!

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the people behind 911-Philippines. I am not really a President Rodrigo Duterte fan, in fact I did not vote for him, but his 911 initiative is truly very impressive and I trust this administration will do more wonders for the our country! I salute all the people behind 911-Philippines.

I would also like to thank Forest Park Memorial Park for being so helpful when we availed their service. Staff of Forest Park in their Novaliches Office was so accommodating, they also explained to us in details all the features and guidelines of our memorial lot plan. Thank you Forest Park!

And finally, I would like to thank all our friends, family, relatives, and co-workers who visited us during my father's wake. I will forever cherish the love you have given us. Again thank you!

You might also want to read this related blog post, "My Road to Recovery"