What happened that day...

My paternal family is diabetic.

All five of my aunts/uncles and my grandfather.

My grandmother died September 18, 2004, after years on dialysis.

Dad was a little overweight and had been diagnosed with diabetes late in life.

He'd always been an active person, playing soccer since college, coaching us when we were kids, doing home improvement projects...

His death was extremely sudden.

A heart attack is suspected, although never confirmed.

He was playing soccer that day.

Came off the field at half-time and motioned to his chest.

Told his wife he felt pressure.

Do you have any pain anywhere? Anything tingling or numb?

No, I just feel weak.

At that point they found him some sugary water, thinking it was just low blood sugar.

He couldn't keep the water down, and they set off towards a path to have some privacy.

Once they got there, he got down on one knee.

He didn't feel well...

We should get you to the hospital, can you make it to the car?

I don't know, just let me get it together first...

Then he passed out.

He never really came to after that, a bit of incoherent moaning was about it.

An ambulance was called.

The had to call back for directions because they couldn't find the side entrance to the park.

My stepmother and stepsister followed.

They turned on the siren as they left...but soon turned it off.

After arriving at the hospital, they worked on him, but wouldn't allow anyone to see him

At one point, my stepmother and sister were placed in a small, private waiting room.

They were told it didn't look good, and to prepare for the worst.

After an hour and 45 minutes of working on him, they finally gave up.

He was pronounced dead at 7:45 pm.

The Medical Examiner refused to do an autopsy.

We'll never know for sure what it was that killed him.

I'm glad it was quick, that he didn't go through what his mother did.

He was only in pain for maybe 20 minutes.

And he was doing something he loved when it happened: playing soccer