Richmond Dinh's brother called on December 21, 2016 with four words: 'Mum's in hospital.' He arrived to find his mother Penny in a coma after a severe stroke, with days left to live. A tribute to the person he'd taken for granted.
Questions this video answers
December 21, 2016
Nixon (Nix)
"Mum's in hospital"
Chapters
It was December 21, in 2016, on a Wednesday night, and I was driving home from work and I got a phone call from my brother, Nixon, which was already unusual because we don't normally call each other.
And.
He said to me the four words that would forever change our lives.
He said, rich.
Mums.
In hospital.
And before he could even say anything else, I just stopped him because I knew it wasn't good, and asked him straight up.
Is she alive?
And he said, yes.
But I don't know how much longer for.
And so I turned the car around, I headed straight for the hospital.
And it was the longest 20 minutes of my life. And in those 20 minutes, I was thinking of all the amazing things that my mum had done for us. I mean, she came here with nothing. No English, no money, no education, and she raised all four boys all on her own.
And she cooked us breakfast every day, she made us dinner every night, she put a roof over our heads and she remembered every single one of our birthdays and she remembered all of our favorite meals.
And.
I couldn't help but.
Feel just this immense amount of overwhelm. I mean, I was angry. I was in denial, just confused. It just didn't make sense to me. I mean, she loved us so much and she was. She was everything to us.
And when I got to the hospital.
I just ran straight for her room.
And there she was, all these tubes coming out of her body.
And the doctor said she's in a coma. She had a stroke, a severe stroke, the kind that there was no chance of survival. She had two or three days max to live.
And I ran to her and I got down on one knee and I grabbed her hand so tight.
And I asked her the one question that all kids want to know from their parents.
Mum.
Did I make you proud?
And there was no answer.
And that's when I realized that I had taken her life for granted. Because she was so healthy. She was fit, she exercised every day, she ate well, she had no medical conditions.
And that's when I learned.
That the most arrogant thing that you can ever do is think that tomorrow will come.
So, Penny, if you're watching this.
I want you to know that you make me so proud.
To my two beautiful daughters, Kennedy and Regan, both of you make me so proud.
