The family of an Aussie dad who suddenly died while on a golf trip has been dealt a second unexpected and devastating blow.
Father-of-two Ash Mitchelson, 40, was enjoying a weekend away with his mates in St Andrews, a small town 50 kilometres north of Melbourne, when he complained of a headache on Saturday evening, so “put himself to bed”.
The following morning, he told his friends he wasn’t feeling any better, so they headed to a nearby pharmacy to grab him some Panadol. “They had thought he was just suffering from a bit of heat stroke from the golf day,” his brother-in-law Tim Credlin told Yahoo News.
But when the group came back, he was lying motionless on the couch. “They checked his pulse and detected there was none,” Tim said. After being rushed to hospital, doctors quickly learned he had suffered a “catastrophic brain bleed”.
His partner Delaney and their two daughters Cobi, 4, and Coah, 1, were with him when he died. In the midst of their grief, they made the selfless decision to donate his organs in a final act of kindness. Tragically, tests revealed Ash was suffering a “rare and aggressive” form of skin cancer known as spindle cell carcinoma.
Ash died in hospital surrounded by his loved ones. Source: Supplied
Cancer diagnosis adding confusing layer to family’s grief
Describing Ash as a “passionate and loving” man, his partner Delaney and Ash’s siblings agreed that Ash would have wanted the opportunity to save another life, so organ donation was an easy decision.
“But when they started opening him up, they detected he had cancer that nobody knew about,” Tim said. Sadly, it meant that it prevented him from donating most organs, except his cornea, which Tim said “will give someone else the ability to see.
Not only is the family grieving their loss and trying to figure out how they will navigate financial burdens ahead, they also need to consider whether the cancer was genetic or sporadic, adding a confusing layer to the tragedy.
A GoFundMe page has been launched in a bid to alleviate some of the financial burden the family now face, which has already received over $40,000 in donations. They are taking each day as it comes before Ash’s funeral on Thursday — his 41st birthday.
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