Megan Banks: Illness, love and loss - but life goes on

The Hits host Megan Banks has imparted some advice in the face of a sombre week. Photo / NZME

OPINION:
So many major things have happened in the past two weeks that it's hard to know what to write about today. But I think I'll start with the most devastating. That is, my younger brother Johnny passed away suddenly.

Johnny had been admitted to Christchurch Hospital a couple of days earlier with what they thought was an infection in his chest lines. Johnny was on dialysis treatment and lines in his chest was how the dialysis was administered. We had been texting the night before and he was in good spirits and been complaining about the food, which is why we thought it wasn't too serious.

Very sadly, though, he didn't make it through the night. He lived down in Geraldine with his wife and three young children, so it's been absolutely devastating for everyone. While the thought terrified me, I volunteered to take his service. Then a couple of days before we were due to fly out, I started to feel very unwell myself. Horrible fever and aches and pains. A body so sore even wearing a bra hurt! So I tested for Covid and finally, after all of these months, I got a positive result that explained it all.

That of course meant I wasn't able to farewell my brother.

I can now finally appreciate what so many of us have had to endure thanks to Covid, and that is not being able to attend important life events, and how that can impact you.

So many people said to me, why did I test, and why didn't I go anyway? Here's the thing.

It's a funeral. There's a lot of emotion, a lot of hugging, a lot of older relatives and, most important, another brother who is also on dialysis and extremely immune comprised.

So as hard as it was, I stayed away. Thankfully, through writing the service and choosing his funeral song to be carried out to, I really did feel a part of the day.

And now life goes on without a much-loved sibling. Don't take your family for granted, pick up the phone and have a chat with them. And please talk to your family about becoming an organ donor. Families like ours need you!

Megan Banks is a breakfast host for The Hits Hawke's Bay