Telford woman praises military organisations who went the extra mile to help late father

Keith John Williams died penniless in south east Asia at the end of last year – but thanks to considerable effort by the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen Families Association and Royal British Legion, his daughter Caroline Rudd was able to cover his medical fees and pay for a "beautiful" cremation service.

Mr Williams first went to Thailand after the death of his wife Rosemary Ann Williams 13 years ago.

Ms Rudd, 51, said: "He went over on a stag do with friends and ended up meeting a Thai lady there and married her."

He owned property in Thailand as well as a bar which he ran, and was in the process of purchasing a second business.

Ms Rudd, who lives in Brookside, Telford, added: "After all this happened, he decided he still loved the country and wanted to stay out there."

Mr Williams had served in the Royal Army Ordinance Corp for 25 years, remaining in the army as a Quartermaster after his active service finished, so he remained receiving a pension which he used to continue his life in Thailand.

But on October 2 Ms Rudd received a call to say he was in a coma in a Thai hospital, after coming in for a water infection before having a fit. He had also been suffering with an embolism on his brain.

He was transferred to a second hospital, where he remained until he died on October 31, two days after his 76th birthday.

Ms Rudd said: "Two days later I had a call from the foreign office saying there were hospital bills that needed paying."

She was in no position to pay, but thought that since her father had been in a coma for a month, there would be his pension to cover the costs.

She discovered that though it had gone into his bank account on October 29, it had been taken out after he died.

Ms Rudd said: "I spoke to the lady in the pensions office and explained what had happened, she told me about the Army Benevolent Fund and how all year they give out money to help people."

From there, she was put in contact with Dave Stinson, a care worker for the SSAFA, who started working with her to try and raise the money to pay for the fees, and give her father a proper funeral.

She said: "Within days he had got me a copy of his death certificate. His army number is on my birth certificate so we were able to get a copy of his whole service history.

"Within three days, my father's old regiment, which is now called the Royal Army Logistics, had helped fund £970 for the funeral of my father and to pay for mortuary costs."

She said: "I was very distressed, it was not something he deserved. Dave contacted the RBL on my behalf to see if they could help. But up to Christmas we hadn't heard anything.

"Then, I'll never forget the date because it was February 17 which is my birthday. Dave called me to say, great news, the RBL will pay the rest of the money for the funeral. As you can imagine I was absolutely elated. The way they did the cremation was absolutely beautiful.

"The coffin and the flowers were beautiful but the RBL went the extra mile and even got him a poppy wreath. Members of the RBL who didn't even know my father went to the funeral to pay their respects."

Though Ms Rudd was not able to go to her father's funeral herself, it was well attended by members of the RBL based in Pattay, Thailand.

They then enacted his final wishes which were to have his ashes scattered over the sea. "I can't praise the RBL and SSAFA enough," she said. "Without them I don't know what I would have done."

Now, Ms Rudd has just the final task of trying to get her father's personal effects returned to her in England.