Waikato wife and mother Michelle Robertson died while on holiday in the Cook Islands with her husband and friends. Robertson, 37, died in Rarotonga on August 5. Photo / Supplied
Waikato wife and mother Michelle Robertson died while on holiday in the Cook Islands with her husband and friends. Robertson, 37, died in Rarotonga on August 5. Photo / Supplied
The family of a Kiwi woman who died while on holiday in the Cook Islands are honouring her memory by raising funds for the hospital that fought to save her.
Michelle Robertson, 37, died in Rarotonga on Saturday, August 5, after she developed a kidney infection and could not be stabilised.
Almost three months on, her husband Bruce Robertson and son Levi have returned to the island and made steps to invest in life saving equipment for the Rarotonga Hospital.
Bruce spoke to the Herald in August and sung his praises for the work the hospital did, but said "unfortunately there wasn't a dialysis machine on the island".
At the time he expressed his desire to try to source the blood filtering machine and donate it to the hospital.
The family set up a Givealittle page with the objective of "helping Rarotonga buy equipment to care for people needing emergency care".
"While the staff at the hospital did everything they could, the access they had to vital equipment was lacking," the page read.
"We are therefore trying to fundraise to enable equipment to be bought for the Rarotongan Hospital's High Dependency Unit, so others in a similar position to Michelle, may be saved."
Bruce returned to the island two weeks ago and visited the hospital where his wife passed.
"It was quite hard walking back into that hospital because we entered straight passed the room and bed where my wife was," he said.
Michelle Robertson with husband Bruce (middle) and son Levi (left).
"I saw the doctor that was there at the time and she talked us through what they would like.
"A dialysis machine is a no-go because the water purity and pressure over there is not good enough, instead we conversed with them as to what we might be able to do instead."
Bruce said the hospital gave him a list of things they would be interested in getting, including; a hand-held portable suction machine, a syringe pump, a shock-proof sphygmomanometer, laryngoscope sets and an Airvo Optiflow device.
"The things they have given me on this list have been on their budget for the past 5-10 years and the Government haven't been able to afford them," Bruce said.
"Those things would help immensely for the hospital."
He and a friend are currently pricing the equipment to see what will be within their fundraising limits. The Givealittle page has currently raised just over $4000.
"At the end of the day anything we do manage to get is going to be a bonus," Bruce said.
He said the family had received huge support from the community, with local businesses such as Briscoes, where Michelle had worked for 12 years, Bunnings and the local squash club raising money for the cause.
He said beyond fundraising efforts the family were dealing with their grief on a day-by-day basis.
"We each have our moments. The hardest time of the day is the evening, leading up to bedtime, because that was the main part of the day when we were all together."
Him and his son were also planning to create a photo feature wall at their home, using frames collected by Michelle.
Michelle was described in an earlier article as a "respected" and "dearly loved" wife, mother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, aunty and friend.
"She had four big loves: family, friends, cooking and red wine," Bruce said.
