The family of a beloved Lanarkshire dad and husband have donated generous funds they raised skydiving to staff at the Intensive Care Unit who cared for him while he was dying.
John Zenke was treated at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride before sadly passing away during the pandemic in December 2020, aged just 61.
Following his untimely death, daughter Shona Graham decided she wanted to give back to the heroic staff who looked after her "best friend" and pay special thanks to them for going the extra mile to support her and mum Lorna Zenke, reports Lanarkshire Live.
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Shona signed up to complete a sponsored skydive and raised an amazing £1695.
And this week the mother and daughter from Blantyre were able to visit the ICU ward to thank the NHS heroes personally.
Lorna says it was an emotional day returning to the place she lost the love of her life but it meant so much to meet the doctors and nurses who did everything they could for John.
Lorna said: "When John died we weren't allowed to go into the ward so two years on it was nice to go in and meet the staff.
"They were brilliant, they spent nearly two hours with us.
"It was fantastic, the people that we actually handed the cheque over to were the ones who nursed John. Morag who is in the picture was holding John's hand when he passed away. They looked after him for four weeks there.
"When we were there we saw the bed he died in as well which was emotional but being there we were able to bring some sort of closure to it all.
"I'll never forget John, he is the love of my life and I will love him until the day that I die."
The visit to the ICU ward came a week after the anniversary of John's death, making this week's gesture a fitting tribute.
Lorna continued: "For those doctors and nurses to spend that much time with us today, that just shows you how much respect they have for the families also.
"These people are looking after really sick people in ICU and they were able to spend that much time with us, talk to us and answer questions that we've been wanting to ask for two years."
Lorna told of how proud she is of her daughter Shona, although admittedly very nervous when she jumped aboard a plan to take on her skydive.
It's thanks to her courageous efforts and donations from kind-hearted locals that they were able to pay special tribute to those who cared for John.
The close-knit family were devastated when John, who was perfectly fit and healthy, contracted the virus in November 2020.
He was found unconscious at home before paramedics rushed out and confirmed his case with an immediate coronavirus test.
John then spent four weeks in intensive care at Hairmyres Hospital before sadly passing away on December 6.
John, remembered as a “true gentleman”, was a key worker during the pandemic, delivering food for Morrisons and took extra shifts to provide for people during lockdown.
Leading up to her sponsored skydive last year, Shona told us: “I couldn’t think of any better reason to do it other than for my dad, and I wanted to give something back to the hospital.
“My heart goes out to those nurses, they just don’t seem to get enough credit for what they’ve done.
“The nurses took my dad on like family."
"The support from the nurses has been amazing, so the fundraising is to thank them”, she added.
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