IHD-member Stauffenberg

[kristina]

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that IHD-member Stauffenberg, who began to be active in the year 2006 has sadly passed away on Thursday last week. 

When I first joined IHD (in February 2009) I contacted him very soon afterwards because I wondered if he was related to Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg (1907-1944), who was sadly executed for his failed attempts to assassinate Hitler at the Wolf’s Lair…

…Over the years he has become a very dear dialysis- and kidney-transplant friend and despite his busy schedule, he was always approachable whenever there was a need to ask more ESRF-questions, especially during the time when I went through the tough trauma/shock of having to prepare myself for dialysis and then later, after being put on the transplant-waiting-list and most importantly, after my transplant-trauma. He was always very humanitarian, understanding and approachable to think about ideas regarding a positive kidney-failure-survival-way forward and I feel very sad that he no longer is here with us to keep up - with us all - the kidney-failure-survival-fight, because, as his obituary conveys:

Only death could have curbed his wit and pursuit of knowledge. It did so on April 14, 2022 after a long and brave battle against ill health but not before he was able to study in six different countries, acquire undergraduate degrees from Harvard and Univ. of Waterloo, master degrees from Yale and Univ. of Toronto. He will be missed by family, friends and many students with whom he shared his broad-ranging knowledge and unique perspectives. He will be deeply missed by his spouse of over forty years and in lieu of flowers or donations, he would want you to choose a book that you would enjoy. A virtual celebration of his life will take place later…

[MooseMom]

Oh gosh, it has been such a long time since we've heard from Stauffenberg!  He is one of so many members who have "disappeared" from IHD for whichever reason.  I often wonder where all of these people have gone, if they are still alive, and how would we ever know if they have passed.

So, thank you so much, kristina, for letting us know this sad news.  Had you been in recent/frequent contact with him?  I am so sorry to hear of his passing.  It is particularly heartbreaking to hear of the passing of someone who at one time made contributions to this forum.

[kristina]

Dear MooseMom and thanks for remembering how at one time he made so many contributions to other members at IHD and then suddenly he “disappeared” from IHD due to the fact that he was so busy to keep it all together, chronic kidney-issues despite having had a transplant … plus his work and career … and it is indeed heart-breaking to see another IHD-kidney-failure-ESRF-member being taken in such a cruel way because of such a barbaric kidney-disease, which can be so horrifically brutal and so ferociously inhuman at times… 
Unfortunately, he had issues with his transplanted kidney for many years and then, when his transplanted kidney irreversibly failed, he did have a life-donor, but then, unfortunately, his body - but not his intellect - was no longer strong enough to fight on for the next operation …
I am very sad about this and I am also very sorrowful, because I have noticed over time, that as a “kidney-failure-ESRF-family” we seem to have a very strong communicative understanding with each other, despite the fact, that we often hardly ever have a chance to meet each other face-to-face. But because of our severe kidney-issues, we can often understand each other’s issues so much better and so very quickly … and also very straightforward without the need for countless explanations …
Such a very sad loss… 

[iolaire]

Kristina thank you for the notification and sorry for your loss of a trusted friend.

[kristina]

Many thanks iolaire for your kind understanding. What happened to this trusted friend really "hit" me very much because his sudden death really shows so very clearly this fragile kidney-issue-vulnerability and it came as a huge shock since it happened to this friend but could have happened to me or you or anyone else here very easily as well... 

[SooMK]

I'm so sorry Kristina. I hate to hear of losing a member of the IHD community even though it doesn't seem to be what it used to be. I also wonder about members who used to post so regularly.

[kristina]

Many thanks for your kind thoughts, SooMK. I also wonder what happened to so many IHD-members who used to post so regularly and I hope with all my heart that it's nothing serious and they are just too busy to let us know about it  ...