No Farewells, No Family, No Funeral

Testimony by Heike E

Kia Ora Members of the Royal Commission

Today I, Heike E of [physical address removed] address you on the 5th anniversary of my mother Hannelore E’s passing on 7th April 2020. I honour all those who have passed alone during this time in history with no farewells, no family nor loved ones by their side, no washing and preparing to be laid to rest and NO FUNERAL because of the lockdowns.

It is a grief that I as her daughter as a mother, wife, grandmother and fellow kiwi will carry always. Silenced, abolished, disregarded – no words will ever express the pain of what we as humans had to endure. The anguish and utter despair and having to organise a cremation asap because she was in a rest home still haunts me. My trying to hold the family together as the oldest under this form of lockdown became a real nightmare as we navigated atrocity of what had just happened and as to how we were going to get ourselves from Russell to Kerikeri journeying in silence and separate cars to the crematorium with our flowers from the garden to say goodbye to our mother lying in a coffin in the back of a hearse with the masked undertaker standing guard as we each went up alone under strict instructions one by one to say final goodbye. The horrendous screeching of the oven as it was lit and her coffin delivered by the undertaker round the back started billowing smoke shattered us all. We stood in total shock and disbelief as our tears rolled and the rain fell heavily drowning out the noise of the flames….

On the 26th of April -19 days later my father went into heart failure and I had to rush him into Kawakawa Hospital under the lockdown and of course was not allowed to accompany him in. The look of horror in his eyes as I said goodbye and explained that I wasn’t allowed to go in with him are permanently etched into my soul. The doctor on duty came out hours later to the car to say that he had to stay in hospital for further investigations. Thankfully he made it through, but had I left it any longer to admit he would’ve also been gone – 2 parents dead in 19 days under the draconian measures enforced upon us!

Continuing onwards with this huge loss and grief in my heart to the 13th May 2020 when I had to take my husband to the Russell Medical Centre under car park lockdown protocols to see a GP and to be told by the wonderful locum we had to get to Whangarei with my husband for further investigations as he did not like what he saw. Many numerous trips under lockdown including Auckland and Whangarei, led to a cancer diagnosis on the 19th June 2020.

I was so traumatised and shocked by this stage but had to find it in me to stay strong and keep going. The load of 3 huge life events unfolding over 5 weeks shook me to my core as I tried to hold on and keep breathing….

To this day I am in awe of my resilience and how I did it still amazes me as you realise what strength you carry and hold. The seven weeks of cancer treatment staying at The Domain Lodge, Auckland and level 3 lockdown was a gigantic mission to embrace as I tried to remain calm and be the rock that my husband needed.

And then came the horror of mandates and the broken promises from a tyrannical government that we all had to get the vaccine. By this stage we were well versed and researched in all things medical and both of us got exemptions for our health issues. Of course, these were then recalled by the government of the day and now suddenly we were the outcasts of society and our community in which we lived and worked.

Not only was my husband recovering and having to do regular check ups within the Hospital system but I was also trying to hold onto my business to keep us going as he was no longer able to work. I had to close down my clinic and work with financial limitations imposed upon us. We were at this stage also supporting our son at Medical School together with his pregnant partner in Dunedin.

As a proud and grateful New Zealander who grew up in South Africa under Apartheid, I was more than horrified at the level of apartheid that rampantly swept through our country with such vigour and hatred. Now we were the real outsiders – no longer able to be a part of society- labelled conspiracy theorists and losing friendships of 35 years and more. But the strength I had gained kept me going as we became social isolates trying to make sense of this spiritual warfare imposed on us all.

What happened to our humanity? The good New Zealand aroha in shreds as we tried to support vaccine injured friends who were too scared to speak out because of all the gaslighting and silencing.

Personally I had 2 friends who died from the vaccine but no it couldn’t be spoken about even though we all knew their turbo cancers were the outcome of the enforced mandates with no right to choose.

As an elder and a grandmother it is my moral duty to write this and to speak up for all those who can’t and for all our children and those yet to be born.

Your role in this inquiry is to remove the veil and allow real transparency carried by our stories and authentic voices. This must NEVER EVER happen again as you reflect on this with your highest integrity prioritising real health on all levels -spiritual, mental, emotional and physical.

Let us as a nation move forward, heal and respect our individual health views and needs under a transparent wholistic model as we hold with compassion what happened and what will NEVER happen again. The legacy born of this will take huge courage and time to heal knowing we will never allow this to be repeated and imposed on all who choose to live in this wonderful AOTEAROA.

I thank you for taking the time to read this and using my feedback.
Nga Mihi nui,
Heike EB