My Dad, Kee

My dad is a quiet unassuming man, who most see in his office - day and night tapping away at his computer working hard for the family and constantly learning new things to continue to develop his skills across all things computers to rigging his car door and the never ending home projects.

Me and my brother, Kieran know him as Papa. The constant in our lives, a tough critic, the ever joker and reliable person, a hard person on the outside but a huge softie on the inside. To our mum, he is the rock.

As in his wedding speech, he is thoughtful and can invoke tears in a crowd.

On Boxing Day 2019, he initially had chest pains thought nothing of it which became a swift emergency surgery to put two stents in due to a >90+% blocked artery in his heart.

Since then it’s been managing his health and really listening to others to make sure he remains that way. In 2023, my parents finally went on their much deserved 6 week long Europe trip, and during this trip a man had recommended to my dad to get his prostate checked due to his age. And upon their return he did just that, to be diagnosed with Stage 1 Prostate Cancer.

Cancer a word we’ve been through before as a family with my grandfather and not one we ever wanted to hear again. At this point it was manageable as it was a monitor and act.

In September this year, he went for the routine scan and there was a few higher markers so they got him to do a biopsy.

On 11/11, we went through the heartache of losing our family dog, Colonel. And the very next day we got the news that Dad’s cancer had developed into Stage 3 prostate cancer, a 24 hours we don’t want to relive.

He had a CT scan to check for spread and thankfully it is contained at this stage so he is booked for surgery for complete removal in January.

However the mounting costs of the surgery, time off work he will need to take for recovery is taking its toll on my parents; despite that they won’t ever show it.

I want to try help them in anyway I can, and I’m hoping even a few dollars here and there can go a way to help with the surgery and the day to day with Mum not working.

In advance, I am very thankful of any help, no matter large or small. Even just a message goes a huge way. They won’t ever ask for help, so we’re doing this for them.

Sam