The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- Sarah Marshal
A former calibration engineer, who was told just days before Christmas his leukaemia is terminal and given months to live, organised his own “living funeral” to give him the “chance to say goodbye” to his friends and loved ones before he dies.
Rob Hale, 33, who lives in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, said he has known for nearly two years that he will die of leukaemia – cancer of the white blood cells – but he did not receive the terminal prognosis until December 2022, which was “devastating”.
After doctors told him his remaining lifespan will be measured in “weeks to months, rather than months to years”, Rob came up with the idea of having a “living funeral” at Cattle Country Farm Park, in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, to bring his friends and family together.
The event featured a buffet, games for children, a table with photos, and a guest book where people could write fond memories of their time with Rob.
Rob said the occasion was “better than (he) could have hoped for”, and at one point, he even went down the “death slide” at the park – a slide with a vertical drop – and was met with applause and cheers from a crowd of more than 50 people as he reached the bottom.
“I’ve only been to a few funerals in my life, and they’re all really sad, sombre; (everyone is) dressed in black, heads bowed,” Rob said.
“I knew that, at some point, I’m going to have that funeral, but I also knew that a lot of the people that might attend it, I probably won’t get to see before I actually die.
“I wanted to do something where I could see them all, I could speak to them, catch up with them, (and) have an actual chance to say goodbye to them.”
Rob, who worked for an aerospace manufacturer for more than 15 years, was diagnosed with leukaemia in April 2021 after contracting Covid-19 in February.
Rob believed his symptoms – which included night sweats, extreme exhaustion, and fevers – were associated with long Covid, but it was not until he received a phone call from Bristol Royal Infirmary on April 23 while he was at work that he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia.
“My mind just started racing; I didn’t really absorb what they were telling me,” he said.
“When the phone call finished, I remember I just hunched over the machine I was (working) on and just started crying
