A red rose with an emotional Father's Day message was tied to a post on a residential street in Beeston, close to the spot where an elderly man suffered a tragic fall earlier this month. Bertram Crowston, known as Bert, died six days after he fell to the pavement in Clinton Street and lost consciousness.
His stepdaughter Gail Blair posted a photo of them together with the heartfelt words: "Happy Father's Day to a kind, loving, caring dad, husband and grandad. Remembering you is easy, we do it every day. Missing you is the heartache that never goes away. We have love you and miss you so much."
Mr Crowston, a retired factory worker, fell less than a minute away from the home he shared with his wife Maureen in Wollaton Road. The 91-year-old had walked around the corner to the car of his grandson Curtis to pick up a birthday card for his granddaughter Sinead's birthday. Curtis had driven off, leaving his grandfather to walk the short journey home, oblivious to what happened soon afterwards.
Local residents rushed to help and a passing police car driving down Wollaton Road stopped to find "a large crowd" around him. Mrs Blair managed to track down some of the witnesses to thank them after she issued an appeal on Facebook. One of them added a rose and their own message of condolences to the family's tribute on the post.
Mrs Blair said: "I have had a couple of witnesses come forward who live on Clinton Street. One was a lady called Margaret and a gentleman called Ian, and a ten -year-old boy who witnessed my dad having a limp and then falling.
"Another man from Dennison Street was cradling my dad's head and he had his hands covered in blood. Someone put a blanket around him to keep him warm. They have been absolutely amazing trying to help my dad at the scene.
"I am truly grateful for them trying to do all they could and I thank them no end. I'm grateful my dad wasn't on his own lying there. The police were good as well and they took my mum to A&E.
"He was unconscious and in a coma and then he passed away. Sadly, he never opened his eyes or regained consciousness," said Mrs Blair.
His death, coming just days before Father's Day, was even more heart-breaking. Mrs Blair, 45, said: "It was horrible. I was just in bits and in tears. I was in pieces, looking at my dad's photo in a Father's Day frame, and not knowing what had happened. He was my stepdad but I called him dad. He was more of a dad to me than my real dad."
In another blow Mrs Blair has had to to put her 86-year-old mum into a care home because she can't look after herself at the home she had lived in for more than 50 years. "Everything has gone pear-shaped in a heart beat.
"My dad was friendly, outgoing and always liked having a joke and a laugh. He had a bubbly personality. He was kind, very caring. He did everything for my mum in the last ten years as she'd had an eye operation, a knee operation and her Parkinson's was getting worse."
Mrs Blair has also had to console her son Curtis. Mrs Blair said: "He kept blaming himself, saying poor grandad would still be here now if I'd took the card in the house instead of him coming to my car."
Mr Crowston died in the Queen's Medical Centre, on June 6, after the fall on May 31. An inquest is likely to be held to establish the cause of death. Mrs Blair said a witness saw him limp before falling.
Mrs Blair, who lives in Wollaton with her husband Michael, said: The A&E trauma consultant wasn't sure if it was a blood clot, a stroke or whether he'd jut blacked out for some reason. At first the coroner thought he died from a fractured skull but now they think it could be heart disease that made him black out."
Her father had recovered from two heart attacks in his 50s and at the time of his death was suffering from angina, diabetes and emphysema.
"Hopefully we'll find some closure as to what's gone on. We have been trying to piece the puzzle together. We are in the dark about how he had a limp when fell and he seemed alright when he was with my son," added Mrs Blair.
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