My beautiful husband, Eric died suddenly at the young age of 53. We were married 26 years and together 30 years. He had been diagnosed with IPF during Covid. Very few symptoms. He had very little in-person contact with specialists. Mostly through zoom. Fast forward to December 2022. He felt he was dealing with the flu. Terrible cough. Drives himself to hospital on December 4/22. I was 3 weeks post op from major surgery. December 9/22 I feel I need to visit him despite my surgeon’s advice not to get in and out of the car. My Eric was in bed with oxygen. I was terrified and in a wheelchair feeling helpless. My mind was racing while I was trying to stay calm and present. After the visit, I’m in my wheelchair and as my mother in law gets ready to take me home, I stop her and turn to my husband. He sits up in his bed and while gripping the bed rails, clearly struggling to breathe, he tells me, “it’s ok babe.” I get home and 3 1/2 hours later I’m called back to hospital. Eric has been intubated. The next day, Saturday December 10/2022 at 5:44 pm my husband was dead.
He loved me unconditionally. He was kind, supportive and everyone loved him. The hardest and most loyal worker. Always smiling and laughing. We loved music and always thought we sang well together. I’m forever lost without him but I will always be thankful that he chose to love me for the rest of his life.
