Vale Andrew Prowse: Prominent Canberran with Cystic Fibrosis dies

Andrew Prowse died last Friday, October 8. He was 34. The much-loved Canberran passed away at his home with Heidi and their beloved fur baby Monty by his side.

The public servant, who had inspired not only the creation of the Santa Speedo Shuffle fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis ACT but affected the lives of many people across the community, found a soulmate in Heidi - someone to celebrate whatever life he had to the very full.

"I always say, 'We drank from the crystal, we ate off the good plates, we went five-star if we could' and we just lived every moment and we were just so lucky we had that," Heidi said, this week.

"As a couple, we never had a fight but we always used to disagree on who had had the greatest impact on the other's life. I think that's always so funny. He made me feel empowered to do the things I was passionate about and I gave him the opportunity to talk about the things he was passionate about. We just complemented each other so much. I know it was a rare thing to have.

"We just made each other's lives so much grander."

While cystic fibrosis had been with Andrew his whole life, he had a double lung transplant at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney in 2017, which gave him renewed energy. But his health started to deteriorate earlier this year. COVID was not a factor. People with cystic fibrosis spend their life avoiding infection with precautions such as masks and social distancing. The transplant made a difference.

"We had Andy for four more years which I am so grateful for and so grateful to the donor family for the choice that they made that day," Heidi said.

"But Andy has always faced significant challenges with cystic fibrosis and earlier this year he had some rejection of his lungs and some further complications that he continued to fight.

"This year, he has been in St Vincent's, RPA and Canberra Hospital for various stints but a few weeks ago we had conversations with the doctors that this wasn't something we were going to get through this time. And that was very odd because Andy has already overcome some significant hurdles and I think a lot of the community, as well, thought he would continue to pull through.

"But the thing with me was that he passed away peacefully, in my arms, in our home, in the home we bought at the end of last year, which was another milestone for him. And he was able to pass away on his own terms. For someone who has experienced so many hospitals and so much treatment, for us to have that really meant a lot."

Andrew turned 34 in April. Heidi, now chief executive of Mental Illness Education ACT, organised a surprise party that celebrated him and his life that gently had an impact on so many,

"We had people from all over the county come to see him for that birthday," she said.

"He had no idea. He woke up late that morning. I said, 'You know what? Let's get all dressed up and sit on the couch and watch Sister Act II' and he said, 'That would be great'. He got all dressed up and I got him on the couch with the dog and the doorbell rang and the first guest arrived and they just kept on arriving."

Both Heidi and Andrew grew up in Tamworth in north-western NSW and even attended the same high school, but it was only when they were both living in Canberra that they got together after meeting at a party. They married in 2015.

After meeting Andrew, Heidi started working for Cystic Fibrosis ACT, eventually becoming its executive director. Together they came up with the idea for the Santa Speedo Shuffle, a crazy fundraiser in which people ran around Lake Burley Griffin in their speedos in the dead of winter. It was a hit.

Andrew was a policy analyst at the Department of Social Services and was always interested in the humanity of his work as well as his work with furthering the cause of people with cystic fibrosis. He received the Profound Influence of the Year Award at the 2018 Volunteering Awards run by Volunteering and Contact ACT.

Heidi said a telling comment Andrew once made was: "I have always had a keen interest in social and public policy. I feel this was inspired by my mother who is a social worker, and my grandparents who all played a role in supporting others throughout their lives. There was a guiding light towards public service. I wanted to be able to contribute to societal wellbeing and be able to drive policy that would impact people from the ground up."

Heidi said Andrew finding the courage to tell his story had helped to increased resources for people with cystic fibrosis.

"Here we are, 10 years later, with a multi-disciplinary CF adult team at the Canberra Hospital, a community of people who live with CF who know each other and know who to turn to when things are really difficult and we have raised over $800,000 to help people get more days with their loved ones," she said.

A celebration of Andrew's life will be held at The Boathouse restaurant in Canberra on Monday. COVID restrictions mean it will be a smaller service than Heidi hoped. "He could have filled a football stadium," she said.

Dr Nick Coatsworth, who was one of Andrew's treating doctor for several years, will be one of the speakers.

"He was just an extraordinary advocate for all patients," Dr Coatsworth.

"Given Andy's interaction with the health care system, he knew every side of it, warts and all. He knew excellence and he demanded it and if he didn't get, he made damn sure we knew about it.

"That was the most important thing he taught me: to keep striving as hard as we can for every single patient, especially those with some pretty significant care needs, like Andy.

"He also taught me how resilient patients can be and how tough it can be for patients with really tough, chronic conditions.

"There are many lessons Andy taught me that I'll remember for the rest of my whole career."

Everyone will be dressed to the nines to reflect Andrew's interest in all things sartorial.

Andrew's family would like the whole community to celebrate his life online at funeralstre.am/andrew-prowse from 1.30pm on Monday They also ask that donations be made to Cystic Fibrosis ACT in memory of Andrew and in lieu of flowers at cysticfibrosis.org.au/act.

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