Ian Worrall Memorial

It was about 2am on 14 June 2016 when we arrived at the Intensive Care Unit at the John Hunter hospital in Newcastle. We had raced down from Coffs Harbour, chasing the helicopter carrying Dad.

Dad had bleeding on the brain caused by some sort of trauma to the back of his head and required emergency brain surgery. He was also suffering hypothermia, blood poisoning and kidney failure due to exposure.

For the next seven days, we spent as much time as we could at the hospital. But what we didn’t realise going in to this absolute nightmare was that we couldn’t spend every moment at Dad’s bedside.

He was receiving around-the-clock care from an amazing team of nurses, doctors, surgeons and specialists and so most of the day was taken up by tests, scans and dressing changes.  As long uncomfortable hours in the ICU waiting room turned to long uncomfortable days, we realised that something as small as a cup of good coffee can make a big difference on the worst day of your life.

So we plan on buying a lovely coffee machine and yummy coffee beans to sit in the little kitchenette in the waiting room and provide free coffee to those with a loved one in the ICU at John Hunter Hospital.

Unfortunately our beautiful Dad did not regain consciousness and at the end of the week we made the decision to turn off his life support. We know he would be immensely proud of us for making this decision and so happy that we are now trying to help other families through their darkest hour. 

Please support us if you can, even if it’s just by donating the cost of a cup of coffee.

Any money we raise beyond $2500 will go towards providing a year's supply of coffee beans to the hospital and an engraved plaque for Dad.

Lots of love,

Kate and Alli