9. 19-20 September - Heading back to the best country in the world!

Thursday 19th and Friday 20th September

May and Karen just wanted to get Ken home so the day was filled up with paperwork and Vietnamese bureacracy. Gav and Sue were busy with Australian organising and preparations for the Memorial Service on Friday 27 September at the Redlands RSL.

Ken was delivered to our Hotel at 5.30pm in a sealed box meeting all quarantine standards. Mr Thang was so respectful and offered to hurry the translations for us as the consulate had booked our flights home for 12.30pm on Friday 20th September. He did as promised and dropped them to us at 10am. To be legal in Australia they need to notaried by the Vietnamese Dept of External Relations and the Australian Consulate which we did not have time to do before our flight. We left the documents with the Consulate for Mr Thang to finalise early the next week.

We 3 flew home via Singapore airlines with a 6 hour stopover at Changi airport. This was not as bad as it sounded as Changi Airport is the best in the world - and caters brilliantly for the transit passenger. We watched the latest Die Hard movie A Good Day to Die Hard, enjoyed the butterfly garden, loved the pleasure and pain of the reflexology chairs.

We arrived home to the best country in the world at 7am Saturday 21 September.

8. Wednesday 18 September - Ken's Cremation

Wednesday 18 September - Ken's Cremation

Many people will ask why we had Ken cremated in Vietnam. It was a family decision for a variety of reasons:-
* Most of the family believe cremation is the way!
* Quarantine requirements to return a body to Australia are strict and time consuming - May and Karen would have had to stay in Vietnam longer.
* Ken only considered cremation and let us know many years ago that was what he wanted.
* It seems less gruesome and he could come home with May and Karen

Update sent to family and friends...

"Today, Wed 18-Sept, here in HCMC,  we had Ken's cremation - a beautiful, cathartic and peaceful experience. May and Karen were picked up in the consulate car and driven to the mortuary where Dad was waiting.

We were able to view him and spend time with him  before he was loaded into a special van.

 

 

 

 

 

We followed the van in our car to the Intercontinental Funeral Home, which is well out of the city.

 

 

 

 We were able sit by him, pray and meditate in beautiful peaceful surrounds, before he was taken in for cremation.

 

 

 

Ken's ashes will be delivered to us in the afternoon tomorrow (Thursday 19-Sept) with the cremation certificate so that he can fly with us. We 3 plan to fly home on Friday 20-Sept 12.30pm Singapore Airlines.

 

7. HCMC - 15-17 September

HCMC 15-16 -17 September

M&K stayed Sunday Monday and Tuesday nights at the Oscar Room 1005 - very supportive staff. They visited the Consulate several times - hectic whirl of organising, emailing, phoning, red-tape and bureaucracy. Decided to have cremation in Saigon so he could return to Australia with M&K. M&K resorted to "Sleep Time Max" natural sleeping pills for mixed results.

Sunday much of the city was shut so things started happening on the Monday - taxi to hospital to wait one and a half hour for death notification certificate. Took certificate back to consulate and met with Richard Waller (Consul) and his team to sort all the paperwork and cremation details....Intercontinental Funerals organised for us. - Mr Thang from ICF to help us coordinate. Kylie from consulate called to let us know the cremation would take place Wednesday 18 Sept....need police clearance also for cremation to take place.

6. Ken 14 September

Saturday 14 September

We had to get some photocopying and scanning done and also made lts of phone calls to investigate repatriation to Australia - must be fully cleared by Hospital 115 doctors to transfer Ken with a full medical team and he is still too critical to move. M&K were allowed to visit Ken for 15minutes together again. It seemed he was a bit more responsive to stimuli, and seemed to have better colouring. M&K were so exhausted so went to bed early.

They were woken up with the phone at 11.00pm to rush to hospital. Sadly informed us Ken had passed away at 10.50pm. He had rapidly deteriorated and had a cardiac arrest and could not be resuscitated. May went in to see Dad, but Karen couldn't. We had to go back to the hotel to get our passports to sign a guarantee for payment so that Ken could be processed and transferred. We escorted him from ICU, downstairs and out for transfer via a van for transfer  to the mortuary.

M&K had about an hour sleep - we felt we had to get out of District 10 so made a booking for 2 nights at the Oscar Saigon Hotel in the city centre, which is where Bob and Dad had stayed.

5. Hospital 115 - Ho Chi Minh City - 12-13 Sept

Thursday 12 Sept

M&K had to continually coordinate with Travel insurers, Vietnam contact and Consulate, and update everyone all the time, over the whole time. As we organised for a Drs meeting through official channels we were granted official permission from the DG of Hospital 115 to visit with Ken each day. Not many locals get to visit ICU  - they gather on mats outside the door and wait for news. M&K spoke with a few each day, some with very good english. Lovely kind people who are so patient and look out for each other.

Waiting waiting outside Surgical Reanimation / ICU

 

 

We had an update with Dr An with Kiet our Travel Insurers Vietnam contact - Dad had slipped back into a deeper coma - very dangerous condition with very low BP. Then we were able to visit with Dad together and for 15 minutes. So much less traumatic to visit together.

At about 7pm we went back to the hospital as felt we had to but were told no to seeing Ken. We just took each step at a time and tried to keep busy.

 

 

Friday 13 Sept

May was able to visit Ken for 10 minutes - one only visitor today. No change in condition, still critical with heart the biggest concern - very low BP and beats per minute.

4. Hospital 115 - Ho Chi Minh City - 8-11 Sept

Sunday 8-Sept - Hospital 115 - Ho Chi Minh City
Ken went straight to emergency in a coma and had 2 cardiac arrests in 2 1/2 hours. After successful resuscitation he was transferred to the Intensive Care "Surgical Reanimation" Ward, which is strictly controlled and monitored. His Glasgow score (Coma measure) was a 3 - dire. His heart and brain trauma were the biggest concern for doctors,  as well as his circulation. He was placed on life support or mechanical ventilation and many drugs to treat his problems. Family in Australia were told he may not survive the night. Over the 2 days he rallied in some small ways but remained in critical condition.

10-Sept Hospital 115
May and Karen arrived in HCMC and were driven straight to District 10 and to the Hospital. It was difficult to find the right ward at first as the hospital is like a maze but eventually we made our way to the ICU. We rang the bell before being admitted to talk with the doctor with Bob. May was able to visit Ken after donning gown hair covers and boots - very upsetting. Luckily May and Karen were staying at Hoang Tay 2 Hotel opposite the hospital - a simple little family run Hotel - clean but very basic.

HOANG TAY 2 HOTEL - HCMC

M&K went back at 7pm to see Ken - had to be one at a time for 5 minutes each. Then went and slept. M&K were woken later by a phone call at 11pm to come back to the hospital, fearing the worst,  but it was Ken's kidneys causing problems. M&K had to give written consent for "Renal filtration" / dialysis or not give consent. Consented as would give Ken his best chance, otherwise he may have died that night.

11 Sept Hospital 115
After contacting Greenslopes Private Hospital and information about Ken's 2009 Aortic Valve replacement was emailed over. M&K took usb with information for the team of doctors to  absorb and print for their file. M&K went back to hospital at 8am - too early but they let May visit with Dad for 10 minutes.

The waiting area outside ICU - May waiting patiently "Let me in please"

Dr An was the doctor with the best English so she updated M&K about Ken's progress around lunch time after her rounds.

M&K took a taxi to Bob's Hotel to collect Dad's bag, and went to the nearby Australian Consulate to collect our official "letter of introduction". Thuy ("Twee") our main contact was so kind, helpful and caring. We farewelled Bob as he was heading back to the tour group in Hanoi. M&K will appreciate Bob's kindness and care for Ken forever! xx

3. Ken's Accident and Transfer to HCMC.

Sat 7-Sept
After dinner at The Grand Hotel, Ken and a few friends decided to walk across the road to the park. It started to rain so they hurried back - a tragic accident happened that night due to many factors, mostly darkness, raining and a speeding motorcycle. It all happened so quickly but witnesses heard a thump turned and Ken was on the road, unconscious. The motorcycle rider jumped on his bike and sped off. Locals rushed Ken into a taxi and took him straight to the Vung Tau hospital, as they knew the ambulance would take awhile. He was listed as critical and the doctors worked on Ken much of the night. Wounds on his head and legs were stitched. He suffered 5 or more cardiac arrests. His friend Bob Wyer stayed with him most of the night and saw Ken battle for life.

Sun 8-Sept
One of HCMC's new ambulances was sent up from the city to transport Ken to the city's best State hospital and the only one adequate for Intensive care patients. Ken and Bob arrived mid-afternoon, after many attempts to keep Ken alive, with the sirens going the whole time.

2. Ken's holiday

Ken was so excited to be going back to Vietnam, as he was last in Vietnam with May in 2007. He was travelling with his ex-army friends from 4 FD Regt LAD and RAEME, and they were doing "Franko's 10 day Vietnam Highlights Tour" - visiting Saigon, Long Tan, Hoi An, Hanoi and Halong Bay. They arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday 5-Sept and spent 2 days exploring the city as a group and individually. Some of the activities enjoyed included a cultural music and dance show, Rex's rooftop bar, My Tho and the Mekong Delta, as well as a boat trip to Thoi Son Island.  On Sat 7-Sep the tour group travelled west to the Cu Chi Tunnels, then enjoyed a 90min hydrofoil ferry trip to the seaside resort town of Vung Tau, to stay at the Grand Hotel.

1. Why a blog?

This blog is a tribute to Kenneth Leckenby. We loved Ken as did many other people Blogs are a great way to communicate to many, and it helps us all to be informed. We find we get too emotional explaining over and over, so this is a perfect way to let family and friends know what happened to Ken.
Kenneth Leckenby

20 August 1939 ~ 14 September 2013

Rest in Peace Ken / Dad / Pop