Last Update

FINAL UPDATE – Tuesday 6 October 2009

To all of you who have made this short journey with us, I am sorry to tell you that we have come to the end.

John went for chemo therapy at the oncology centre yesterday. There was more good news as his markers had come down further, and the chemo was working. He was in good heart and very much looking forward to something to eat after his long day. We went to the restaurant at Ikea where he chose prawns as a starter, then salmon and potato as his main course.

He looked at the swivel chairs with Eugene, our friend from Nicosia, which he wanted to buy for his train room and also met up with Nancy and Martin, friends from UK.

This morning he asked for eggs and bacon for his breakfast. He was so positive and in such a good mood, that afterwards he wanted to visit Nina’s shop for some milk and we duly walked the few steps down the road, the Englishman in his straw hat and walking stick and his braces to keep his trousers up. He had lost a lot of weight.

He sat in the shop drinking a juice Nina had offered him when suddenly he said – you have to get me home, something’s happened. You’ll have to get the car.

I did so, and he stood up to get to the car, took a couple of steps and then collapsed. We lowered him to the floor but it was evident something colossal had happened and he quickly lost colour and died.

To many a foreign face this may seem so tragic to die in a public place. But as he lay there, looking so peaceful and just as if he were asleep, it seemed even then as if he was giving his very last performance. Villagers of course gathered round, our neighbours and friends came and hugged me and gave me comfort as we waited for the ambulance. Karina came too. But we knew that he had passed away and his death was a sharing amongst people who loved and cared for him, not a solitary affair.

In some way when I came back home this evening, I was glad that I did not have to enter a house where he had died, did not have to look at a room which would have had all these memories.

It was so sudden and is such a shock. It was probably heart failure, which the Oncology Doctor said can sometimes happen amongst cancer patients. His body could not cope with any more.

The priest in the village has agreed that he can be buried in the village cemetery, which John had always wanted but normally is not possible if you are not Greek Orthodox. So this is an honour. John was not a believer, so we will gather at the graveside to pay our last farewells, children, friends and villagers. Thank you for being with us on this journey and for all your support.