A British father who fell into a coma after a freak fall while on holiday in Turkey died just minutes before his daughters were allowed near his bed after flying from the UK.
Marlon McCormack, 51, suffered a brain haemorrhage after falling while using gym equipment at his hotel, and had been in hospital for just over a week in an induced coma as doctors battled to save his life.
On Saturday, the hospital called her daughter Renelle McCormack, 27, and her 16-year-old sister to inform them that her organs were failing and she had only 24 hours to live.
Desperate to say their final goodbyes, the sisters took the first flight to Turkey and went to see Marlon as soon as they could the next morning, but were kept in a waiting room for half an hour.
Tragically, when they were finally allowed to go to their father’s room, the surgeon told them that he had died 30 minutes earlier.
The ‘popular’ Solihull dad had been enjoying a night out with his daughters the night before he fell and injured himself
Marlon McCormack is pictured with his daughters when they were younger. Renelle is pictured on the right
Renelle has organized a celebration of life event in memory of her beloved father, known as Brando and who she says was popular with people “all over the UK”.
Renelle, her sister and Marlon’s girlfriend Anna Ryan, 41, are now desperately trying to bring him home after their ordeal, which began during what was supposed to be a dream holiday together.
The family, who had not purchased travel insurance for their trip, were facing huge medical bills for Marlon’s treatment, including payments for brain surgery and his stay in the ICU.
The hospital bill amounts to £23,000, costs which are now covered after his loved ones set up a GoFundMe page.
But the family now faces the daunting prospect of trying to repatriate his body and pay for the funeral, costs they cannot cover.
‘As my father was the top earner in the house and is no longer here, this has really shaken everything up. That’s why we need all the help we can get to overcome and recover from all this,” he told MailOnline.
“My father’s girlfriend cannot go into debt because of all this, since now she only has to financially manage the house and take care of my sister.”
Marlon, a “popular” family man from Solihull, had been enjoying a night out with his daughters and girlfriend just hours before he tripped while using gym equipment.
Renelle and her sister woke up to the terrible news that their father was suffering a stroke, which left him with a severe hemorrhage on his brain.
Renelle, her sister and Marlon’s girlfriend Anna Ryan (right), 41, are now desperately trying to bring him home after his ordeal.
He was rushed to hospital and placed in a coma before undergoing brain surgery, with doctors saying he would need a second major operation.
After days of hoping he could be saved, his devastated family received the heartbreaking news that he would soon pass away on Saturday.
“We got the news that he had 24 hours left and that his organs were failing, so my sister and I took the next flight to say goodbye,” Renelle said.
‘We arrived at dawn and headed to the hotel where we went to sleep. The hotel was 30 seconds from the hospital, so we went straight there first thing in the morning.
‘We got there and they told us to sit in the waiting room, so we sat there for half an hour before going up.
‘The surgeon met us outside the ICU, as he usually did, to brief us. But it wasn’t an update.
‘The update was that he had died 30 minutes ago. It was the worst feeling he had ever had.
Marlon (left) said he fell while at the gym during a holiday in Turkey, before losing feeling in his body.
“We were waiting downstairs for half an hour and he said that’s when he died.
“It was really upsetting, throughout the whole process we were all crying.”
After the death of her father, Renelle’s sister is now an orphan and lost her mother when she was a child.
As she deals with the grief, the teenager will have to sit her GCSEs next week – something her older sister says is “the worst time in the world”.
“She’ll decide which path she’ll take, I need her to, but I know her head isn’t in the right place right now,” she said, adding, “I’m proud of her either way.”
The horrible experience will stay with Renelle forever, she said. ‘I will never go on vacation again, I don’t like airports, I don’t like hotels.
‘There are so many triggers now that I didn’t realize the whole situation.
“It’s all about that, we tried to go on vacation and my dad died.”
After leaving Türkiye on Monday, Renelle said she is still struggling to come to terms with what happened.
Renelle McCormack, 27, was taking family photos with her younger sister, father and girlfriend the night before.
‘I wake up every morning and think “my dad is gone.” I will never hear his voice again, the videos make me cry.”
While she believes her father’s death was an accident, Renelle said the family intends to carry out an autopsy when he is brought back to the UK.
“We want an autopsy to be performed, because due to the language barrier during this whole process we were never 100 percent sure what they were saying,” he said. “We would like to know what happened to my dad.”
Even after all the pain they’ve already been through, Renelle said there’s still a long road ahead as they try to bring him back home.
“We just take it day by day, we stay busy, we keep our minds busy,” he said. “But when this is all over, it will affect us.”
Renelle has organized a celebration of life event in memory of her beloved father, known as Brando and who she says was popular “all over the UK”.
The musical event will take place in Birmingham on May 17 and will help raise money “to bring him home and give him the send-off he deserves.”
“As long as we can get as much help as possible to cover all of this, it won’t be a burden for Anna to move on with her life,” he said, adding that he hopes this means the death of his father. After all, my partner “will be able to raise my sister and live a normal life.”