Tongan star Felise Kaufusi has revealed in gut-wrenching detail the final months of his father’s life before he passed away in August.
Kaufusi missed a month of NRL for the Storm – and the State of Origin decider for Queensland – to be at his dad Taniela’s hospital bedside.
The Dolphins-bound backrower left Australia immediately after playing in Origin II on June 26 in order to bring his sick father back from America.
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Kaufusi revealed in a heartbreaking interview with Fox League’s Jake Duke that Taniela almost didn’t survive the flight home.
“It was pretty crazy. I got news straight after the Origin II game and it made it even harder because we were over in Perth,” Kaufusi said.
“It was just a tough time, it was still touch-and-go at that time and somebody needed to go (to America)… I just dropped everything.
“It was tough because he wasn’t in a coma but under that much sedation that we couldn’t talk to him. By the time we left the States he was starting to open his eyes and got some feeling, was squeezing hands. You could tell he could understand.
“I don’t know how the medics cleared him to fly home but they did and that was an ordeal in itself, they had to revive him a couple of times but he made it back to Brisbane Royal where he got the best care.”
The pair returned to Australia on July 13 but things quickly took a turn and the Kaufusi family was forced to make some painful decisions.
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“Unfortunately we made the decision he had to get his leg amputated that night and the doctors told us he was still touch and go and there was a possibility he might not make it through, but he did luckily,” Kaufusi said.
“A week later they took the tube out of his mouth, this whole time he had a ventilator so you couldn’t talk to him. He was well enough to take that out, he was smiling and listening to basic commands.
“But then it took a turn for the worst, the ventilator had to come back on and his kidneys started to fail.
“A week later they said they’re going to try again to take the ventilator out and he did that and from there he was starting to string a few words and acknowledge us a bit more.”
Taniela held on for a few more weeks before telling family he was “ready to go”, and he passed away surrounded by all his children.
“By the end of that week he said he was ready to go and that it was in God’s hands and for us it was a bit more comforting that he was happy to go, well not happy to go but in god’s hands,” Kaufusi said.
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“As sad as it was, we were all around him at the time, all my siblings made it there just in time.
“I think we were one of the lucky ones, some people go through this and they don’t get to talk to their loved ones before they pass on.”
Kaufusi opted to play for Tonga instead of Australia at the World Cup and emphasised his dad would have been so proud to see him don the famous red strip.
“About a year and a half ago I got a call from the coach Kristian Woolf and he asked me if I wanted to come back and play for Tonga, he thought I could add some leadership and experience,” Kaufusi said.
“I called him back a few months later and one of the things he said was ‘you’re back to where you belong’ and for me that hit home.
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“Obviously with what’s gone on with the old man and his passing, it means a lot more.
“He would have had a bloody beer in hand, his Tongan gear all sorted (ready to watch me play).
“It would have meant the world to him, he was just proud to be a Tongan and to represent where you come from.”
Tonga are set to face Samoa in the quarterfinals next week with the winner to likely then take on England for a spot in the final against Australia or New Zealand.
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