Theodoros Makridis, 92, had a long and full life but was placed in St Basil’s three weeks ago. On Saturday, he passed away but has still not been confirmed that the cause of death was COVID-19.
Born in 1928, in Niki in the Florina region, northern Greece, he lived through WWII and the subsequent civil war in his country.
He migrated to Australia in 1955 and brought his wife over a few years later. Together they had two children, and they worked hard, however he lost his wife many years ago.
His daughter, Rita Makridis told Neos Kosmos that her father loved life. “He was shattered when he lost mum, but he later got back on his feet and started to live again. He went everywhere,” she said, pointing to trips and dances organised by Greek bodies.
READ MORE: Melbourne’s Greek community devastated by nine deaths at St Basil’s Home for Aged Care
His favourite team was Collingwood! “He loved footy and Collingwood,” Ms Makridis said. “Come rain or shine, he never missed a game. He had attended the finals in 1958, when Collingwood won the championship. The last time he went to see his favourite team was a year ago. He even saw the Olympic Games in Melbourne,” she said.
Mr Makridis health had worsened three weeks ago and as a result he had been placed in the care of St Basil’s.
“That was the last time we saw him. Due to restrictions we could not visit him. From Tuesday, the staff of St Basil’s went into quarantine and we couldn’t even have any communication,” she said, adding that ‘chaos’ seemed to follow the arrival of the new team. There was no communication.
READ MORE: Federal aged care regulator’s threats, St Basil’s compliance and devastation within the community
“We only spoke with one social worker via the Call Centre in Adelaide,” Ms Makridis said. “Finally, on Saturday the phone rang. I’m glad because I thought I would get news about my father and I would speak with him. They told me he passed away.”
Theo was Chloe & my lovely neighbour for a decade. Theo's family looked for him for 5 days but St Basil's aged care & the fed govt could tell them nothing. On Sat they were told Theo was dead. They never got to say goodbye. COVID is revealing a lot: Fed aged care is dysfunctional pic.twitter.com/jnI4EMTgoD
— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) July 27, 2020
