My uncle died January 17th, and we didn’t find out until February 6th.
It was a shock.
We’re all shocked and it doesn’t seem quite real.
He had a foot surgery, and I had called him on the 13th, leaving some silly, flippant, sing-song message teasing him for not answering his phone and ended it with an ‘I love you!’
I’d like to think he got the message.
He had been getting better, and we had talked about moving him back to Wisconsin where there’s family to help him. He was just short of retirement, and he was looking forward to it.
He wasn’t done yet.
One of his (deceased) wife’s relatives became concerned because his voicemail was full and had been for over a week, and she reached out to my parents through Facebook.
He lived alone with two dogs since his wife had passed already.
My parents reached out to my cousin, and she sent my aunt who lived a few hours away to check on him.
When she arrived, the door that he had been intending to fix hadn’t yet been fixed, and she was able to walk right in… into an entirely empty apartment.
No gore here. I wouldn’t surprise you with gore or gross.
Instead there was no uncle.
No dogs.
But his car was there.
And so the frantic phone calls to hospitals and the police began.
We discovered that he called EMS on the 17th, and when they arrived, they weren’t able to save him. His wound had gotten infected, gone to the bone, and he had gone septic.
It was already too late when they got there, and he passed. So they gathered up his body and his two dogs and left his phone and wallet where someone could find them.
They were unable to find next of kin, which is ASTOUNDING to me in this day of the Internet, so no one was notified.
He went to the morgue.
The dogs went to the Apache Junction Paws and Claws Care Center, where they were held for two weeks waiting for relatives. No relatives came, because we had NO idea he had passed, and the two dogs were adopted out.
This is absolutely okay. They’re safe. I’m hoping they’re being loved on. This rescue was there for them when we had no idea they needed help, and here comes my favor.
If you could, would you please donate to their emergency animal care fund? You can find their non profit donation page here.
I’m donating as well, but I’m so grateful to them that the EMTs brought the dogs there for safety and that they were cared for when they needed it most.
This is a small rescue, and the money you donate goes to emergency vet bills for the dogs they take in. None to overhead or administration or wages. 100% dogs that need it.
I called the rescue to find out where to donate and explained to staff what had happened and why no one came for his dogs.
My donation says ‘thank you’. It says ‘thank you for taking care of them when we couldn’t’. ‘Thank you for caring.’ And it will allow them to continue their efforts to save other dogs in their time of need.
So, please. If you have a little? Donate.
Renee thank you for the nice post. I’m sure your uncle would approve. Please check the door to your fridge for an ICE card (in case of emergency). If you don’t have one print on out or write one up so if the police or EMS come to your door they know how to reach your family!! We have one on our fridge and a note on the front window saying we have 2 dogs inside for the firefighters too. God Bless