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The wife of a Toowoomba man who died this week from COVID-19 and two of his four children are preparing for a funeral that they cannot attend.
Key points:
- Garry Kirstenfeldt died in the ICU without his family, who were in isolation, nearby
- His wife and one of his children recently travelled with him on the Voyager of the Seas cruise ship
- Only two of his four children will be able to attend his funeral
Just two of the immediate family members of Garry Kirstenfeldt will be able to attend his funeral in the coming week.
Mr Kirstenfeldt died on Wednesday after contracting the coronavirus on the recently returned Voyager of the Seas cruise ship.
With serious underlying health issues, Mr Kirstenfeldt — who was normally surrounded by family — died alone surrounded instead by medical staff.
"We struggled not being by his side in ICU, or as he died, since we are all in self-isolation," said his wife, Jennifer.
Ms Kirstenfeldt will not be able to attend his funeral, as she travelled on board the cruise with him, along with their daughter Shakira, and remains in isolation.
Other family members also came into contact with Mr Kirstenfeldt upon his return.
Of his four children, only two will be able to attend the funeral, the family said.
New coronavirus restrictions now limit the number of people at funerals to no more than 10.
Four cruise ships have docked in Australia in recent weeks, including the ship Mr Kirstenfeldt was on.
All of them have had confirmed cases of coronavirus.
'Never expected his 17th cruise to be his last'
Mr Kirstenfeldt loved cruise ship holidays and had previously been on 16 of them.
"His favourite would have been the one around Hawaii," his wife said.
"He had wanted to retire there, no matter how difficult it would have been.
"We never expected his 17th cruise to be his last, or no-one to be at his side for the last moments of his life."
What the experts are saying about coronavirus:
'A man with much more life in him'
To ease the financial burden of the situation, family members on Friday launched an online campaign to raise money to cover funeral costs.
"Unfortunately [we] need to ask for help due to his sudden passing," they posted on the page.
"It's been a struggle [for] our mother, as she now needs to plan a funeral she won't be able to attend.
"But we need to celebrate the amazing man he was."
In his 68 years, Mr Kirstenfeldt left his mark on his family and community, family members said in their post.
"Our dad always had time for each of us.
"He made an impression on all he met and considered his friends extended family.
"Our father was a man with much more life in him.
"We love him with all our hearts and miss him more than words could say."
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Topics: covid-19, travel-health-and-safety, diseases, death, sea-transport, tourism, federal-government, federal---state-issues, states-and-territories, health, infectious-diseases-other, respiratory-diseases, epidemics-and-pandemics, diseases-and-disorders, toowoomba-4350, sydney-2000
First posted