In Memory of David Rex Rush

David Rex Rush (August 17, 1957- February 21, 2025)

It is with profound sadness, that I announce the passing of my Father.

My dad had a pacemaker implanted on December 16, 2024. On Christmas Eve, we noticed he seemed to be not himself, he had difficulty walking and was slurring his words, which we initially attributed to fatigue. So, we made an appointment for December 27, 2024. At that appointment, we were reassured that everything appeared normal and the pacemaker was functioning correctly. They wanted to do a follow up on Friday, January 3rd, and again was told everything looked good.

On January 5th at 4 PM, my dad fell out of bed, prompting my mom to call 911. He was taken to the nearest hospital, where they began conducting tests and decided to keep him overnight. My mom and I made the choice to leave for that night.

The following day, January 6th, he was moved to the ICU and intubated due to sepsis from a severe infection caused by the pacemaker. They prepared for an emergency removal of the device. The cardiologist later informed us, "Had he gone to sleep that night, I’m not sure he would have woken up.” Those were among the most frightening words I could hear. He was intubated for six days, until Saturday, January 11th. After that, it was just a matter of waiting while monitoring his breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate.

As a couple of days passed, it is now January 15th and he was scheduled for an MRI (keeping in mind that my dad has severe claustrophobia). It was revealed that he had experienced multiple Lacunar strokes as a result of high blood pressure and diabetes; we still aren't certain whether these strokes were responsible for his fall or if they occurred while he was in the hospital.

Now, on January 24th, he has officially been discharged from the hospital and will be moving to a rehabilitation center to relearn how to do everything, having spent the last 19 days in bed!

January 24th, we transfer him to Legacy at Boca Raton Rehabilitation center, where he will learn to do everything on his own again. He did therapy every day. We spent every day with him watching him progress over the next few weeks.

Fast forward to February 18th, he just began walking with a walker with little to no assistance at all, we were all so happy to see how far he has come. He developed a cough that day so they did a chest x-ray to check for pneumonia and it was negative. So they decided to test him for the flu and covid, both negative.

Wednesday, February 19th, he was still coughing but still was up and walking, attending therapy session, eating, etc.

It is now Thursday, February 20th, he mostly slept all day. He ate his whole lunch and all his dinner. My mom kissed him goodbye and said she will see him tomorrow.

Friday, February 21st, we receive multiple phone calls at 4:30am (obviously sound asleep), my mom is then woken up at 7:15am to two police officers banging on her door to tell her the news that was unexpected.

We are now scrambling to figure out funeral arrangements and get hit with a big financial burden.

We appreciate any help we can get! This will all go towards helping with hospital bills, rehab bills, funeral arrangements, and meals for my mother as she has now lost her better half.

We love each and every one of you, my Dad would be so proud of the legacy he has left behind and how many lives he has truly touch over the past 67 years of his life!