A British father who was put into a coma after a freak fall while on holiday in Turkey died just minutes before his daughters were allowed to go to his bedside after being flown from Britain.
Marlon McCormack, 51, suffered a brain haemorrhage after a fall while using gym equipment at his hotel, and had been in an induced coma for just over a week as doctors fought to save his life.
On Saturday, the hospital called his daughter Renelle McCormack, 27, and her 16-year-old sister to inform them that his organs were failing and he had only 24 hours to live.
Desperate to say a final goodbye, the sisters took the first flight to Turkey and went to see Marlon as quickly as possible the next morning, but were kept in a waiting room for half an hour.
When they were finally allowed to go to their father’s room, they were tragically told by the surgeon that he had died 30 minutes earlier.
The ‘popular’ family man from Solihull was enjoying a night out with his daughters the night before he fell and was injured
Marlon McCormack is pictured with his daughters when they were younger. Renelle is on the right in the photo
Renelle has organized a life event in memory of her beloved father, who was known as Brando and who she said was popular with people ‘all over Britain’
Renelle, her sister and Marlon’s girlfriend Anna Ryan, 41, are now desperately trying to bring him home after their ordeal, which started during what was meant to be a dream holiday together.
The family, who did not have travel insurance for their trip, faced huge medical bills for Marlon’s treatment, including payments for brain surgery and his stay in intensive care.
The hospital bill stands at £23,000, costs now covered after his loved ones set up a hospital GoFundMe page.
But the family now face the terrifying prospect of trying to repatriate his body and paying for a funeral, costs they cannot cover.
“Since my dad was the biggest earner in the house and is no longer there, this has really shaken everything up. That’s why we need all the help we can get through this and recover from it,” she told MailOnline.
‘My father’s girlfriend cannot get into debt because of all this, because now she only has to run the household financially 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 her father suffered a stroke, causing severe brain bleeding.
Renelle, her sister and Marlon’s girlfriend Anna Ryan (right), 41, are now desperately trying to bring him home after their ordeal
He was rushed to hospital and put into a coma before undergoing brain surgery. The doctors said he needed a second major operation.
After hoping for days that he could be saved, his devastated family received the heartbreaking news that he would soon die on Saturday.
“We got the news that he had 24 hours left and his organs were failing, so me and my sister took the next flight to say goodbye,” Renelle said.
‘We arrived in the early hours and went to the hotel where we went to sleep. The hotel was 30 seconds from the hospital so we went straight there.
“We got there and they told us to sit in the waiting area, so we sat there for half an hour before going upstairs.
‘The surgeon met us outside the intensive care unit, as usual, to give us an update. But it wasn’t an update.
“The update was that he passed away 30 minutes ago. It was the worst feeling ever.
Marlon (left) said he fell in the gym while on 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 just very disturbing, the whole process, we were all in tears.”
After the death of her father, Renelle’s sister is now an orphan, having lost her mother as a young child.
As she copes with the grief, the teen has to take her final exams next week, something her older sister says is the “worst timing in the world.”
“It will decide what path she takes, I need her to do it, but I know her head is not in the right place right now,” she said, adding, “Anyway, I’m proud of her.’
The horrific experience will stay with Renelle forever, she said. ‘I’ll never go on holiday again, I don’t like airports, I don’t like hotels.
“There are so many triggers now that I didn’t realize were surrounding the whole situation.
“It’s just everything about it, we were trying to go on vacation and my dad died.”
After leaving Turkey on Monday, Renelle said she is still struggling to come to terms with what happened.
Renelle McCormack, 27, took family photos with her younger sister, her father and his girlfriend the night before
‘Every morning I wake up and think, ‘My father is gone.’ I will never hear his voice again, videos bring me to tears.’
Although she believes her father’s death was an accident, Renelle said the family plans to have an autopsy performed when they bring him back to Britain.
“We want an autopsy done on him because we were never 100 percent sure of what they said during this whole process because of the language barrier,” she said. “We would like to know what happened to my father.”
Even after all the heartache they’ve already experienced, Renelle says there’s still a long way to go as they try to get him back home.
“We keep it up day after day, it keeps us busy, it keeps our minds busy,” she said. “But when this is all over, it’s going to happen to us.”
Renelle has organized a celebration of life in memory of her beloved father, who was known as Brando and who she said was popular ‘throughout Britain’.
The music event will be held in Birmingham on May 17 and will help raise money ‘to get 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 so much of a burden for Anna to continue with her life,” she said, adding that she hopes this will mean her father’s death. after all, my partner will be able to ‘raise my sister and lead a normal life.’