Daughter serenades father on his deathbed in the centre of a COVID-19 outbreak
Samantha Monckton said her father died at the age of 78, battling COVID-19 and other ailments
A daughter who serenaded her father with her trumpet at his Vancouver care home amid the COVID-19 pandemic has played a final tune for him.
Samantha Monckton said her father Garry, who was living at the Haro Park Lodge in Vancouver, has died at the age of 78.
Although she couldn't touch her father inside the care home as he battled COVID-19 and other ailments, she was able to let her trumpet do it from outside.
Speaking with CBC Radio's On The Coast with Gloria Macarenko, Monckton says Garry used to smoke two packs a day until dementia took hold.
He switched to ice cream and finished his life Wednesday night with a sweet treat.
"He ate four cups, and he never woke up ... well for him he's probably like, 'Well, hell I'm not going to leave any in the fridge, let's go!" she said.
"He's just [scarfing] it all, God love him, and he went out with a belly full of ice cream, which is [what else could] I ask for?"
Monckton says she loves his care home staff like her own family. And she thanks his neighbours.
"I knew the people in the West End were bringing their pots and pans out and banging enough to maybe wake him up! And it worked!"
With files from Dan Burritt and CBC's On the Coast