A beloved family man tragically died after heading out of the house to help a stranger.
Anthony Simpson, 69, known as Tony to many, headed out of his home in the Kirkholt area of Rochdale last Monday, September 5, to see if he could help with an ongoing police incident at a nearby bridge. Tragically, as he headed out to see if he could help, Tony tragically fell ill and collapsed.
When his son followed him out half an hour later to see where he'd gone, the fire service revealed that firefighters had found him on the ground in cardiac arrest. He was treated with a defibrillator at the scene, before being taken to hospital where he was placed in intensive care for three days before passing away.
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His daughter-in-law Karis Matthews paid tribute to the "lovely man", who would "do anything for anyone". She told the Manchester Evening News : "It's just so sudden and unexpected, he went out to do what he loved the most, trying to help people. There were loads of police and fire engines, there was a young girl trying to take her own life so he'd gone out to see if he could help in any way and try to talk to her and unfortunately he's had a massive heart attack, slipped and banged his head.
"He was found with no pulse so they used the defibrillator and brought him back, then he died again at the hospital and they brought him back, and he was in intensive care for three days before he passed away on his own terms. They didn't think he was going to make it and they were going to turn the machines off but he went on his own terms before they could. It was just wrong time wrong place."
Tony was in a coma for three days before he tragically passed away surrounded by family, including wife Mary and his sons Liam and Shane. Sadly, retired Tony had no life insurance cover, leaving his family facing a funeral bill with no extra help to cover the costs. After Tony's death, Karis set up a fundraiser to help her partner's family with the costs and to ease the stress during the difficult time.
She added: "He didn't have any sort of life insurance or savings so I'm trying to do a fundraiser, his other half is has mobility issues so she can't work, and his kids can't help out much either. Tony’s family are understandably struggling at the minute, and worried about covering costs of the funeral. All of the money will be used to help cover funeral costs and hopefully help reduce stress.
"Tony was a big family man, who could make anybody in the room laugh. He would do anything for anybody and he will truly be missed. Tony was loved by so many people, he was such a lovely man. He loved gardening, the garden they have is gorgeous, he built his own shed, and he loved his kids, I've got a baby who's eight months old and he adored him to bits, he was his only grandchild. He liked spending time with his family."
Visit the fundraising page to read more about Tony's tragic death or to donate to his family.
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