A British expat was found dead by his flatmates in Canada after going for a lie down during a gaming session.
Craig Frewer, 29, was at his flat in Vancouver when he suddenly felt unwell - with a post mortem later reportedly putting his death down to “complications of uncontrolled diabetes”.
Dad Michael, who lives in Exmouth, Devon, was called at 4.50am on May 26 by his ex-wife who could hardly speak.
She was eventually able to say their son had passed away.
“The only two words I could understand were ‘Craig’ and ‘dead’," he told the Mirror.
“She passed me over to her partner, who said the police had just left and that Craig had died out in Canada.”
Michael and Craig’s loved ones were trying to raise £10,000 to cover bringing his body home to the UK, as well as funeral costs.
Michael’s dad paid for much of the initial costs out of his pension, and Craig arrived in Bletchley, Milton Keynes - where his mum lives - on June 16.
Michael said to take the burden off his son's mum he has dealt with everything.
Craig had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of seven.
When Michael himself was diagnosed with the same condition two-and-a-half years ago his son even showed him what to do.
“As far as I was concerned he was controlling it really well,” he said.
A week before he died Craig had texted his dad to ask if he was free for a catch-up call.
However, Michael was due to move out of his flat and was packing up his things.
“We didn’t talk then,” he said, adding that he regretted that.
Referring to the night Craig passed away, he said: “What I’ve been told is he was gaming with his friends and he said to one of them, ‘I don’t feel well, I’m going to have a lay down’, and he passed away while he was laid down.
“They went to check on him, he was unresponsive, they called 911 and the rest is, as they say, history.”
Craig was an avid gamer and had moved to Vancouver on a temporary visa after securing work there to live with two friends he’d met online through the hobby.
However, soon after there were some complications when Covid hit and he had to find a new job at a warehouse, but Michael said he understood he was applying for Canadian citizenship at the time of his death.
Describing his son, he said: “He was very quiet. You had to get to know him, he had to know you before he opened up to you.
“He was well into the Beatles and we took him down to Abbey Road and took a picture of him walking across the crossing. He was happy with that.
“He was very laid back, it is what it is - that sort of person.”
To donate to a GoFundMe page set up by Craig’s godfather Dave Tuting, click here.
