Family Crisis Fern's Tears For Her Darling Dad

His shock illness catapulted her into the role of caregiver

 

- Sebastian Van Der Zwan

After a crazy month in which she’d attended “about 3000” Auckland weddings, a tired, emotional and extremely hungover Fern Sutherland was desperate to return to Taranaki to be taken care of by her parents.

“All of my friends seemed to get married back in February and I was maid of honour for every single one,” recalls the Brokenwood Mysteries actress, 30. “I had the best time, but I was exhausted – a shell of a human who needed to be looked after by my mum and dad.”

Fern was met at New Plymouth Airport by her mother Kerry, but the comfort of the reunion was short-lived when her mum told her, “Don’t freak out, but your father has had a heart attack and is in hospital.” Fern’s own heart almost stopped.

It transpired her beloved dad Sam, 67, a labourer, had experienced severe pain over several days. He thought he’d pulled a muscle, but when the pain didn’t go away, he called Healthline, which advised him to get to Taranaki Base Hospital immediately.

After he drove himself there, it was discovered Sam had experienced a series of heart attacks and would probably need a stent, so he was flown to Waikato Hospital, where he was told he actually needed a high-risk quadruple bypass. Ninety percent of his heart wasn’t functioning. Statistically, he should have been dead.