Cruising Talk - View Single Post - SuperStar Gemini

**Ally** · 06-06-2007, 08:25 AM

A RETIRED salesman has died while enjoying a dream cruise around the South China Sea.

George Graham, 86, collapsed in his bed on board the cruise ship Superstar Gemini. His grieving wife Pamela, 74, said there had been no warning signs, and that the couple had been enjoying the trip of a lifetime.

They were one week into the 21-day cruise and were on their way from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam when the former RAF pilot, who worked as a salesman for Scottish Gas until his retirement in 1985, died.

"I was woken up about 6am by the sound of him calling out for help," said Mrs Graham. "He was just saying 'help me, help me' and I thought he was having a nightmare until I turned on the light and saw he had collapsed."

She immediately called the ship's medical team, who treated Mr Graham in his room before taking him to their on-board hospital, but after an hour he was pronounced dead.

It was later determined that he had suffered hypovolemic shock, a state of extreme low blood pressure which can be caused by dehydration or bleeding and can lead to multiple organ failure. It is believed the condition may have been caused by an aneurysm, and Mr Graham had suffered extreme internal bleeding.

Mrs Graham was flown home immediately and Mr Graham's body arrived back in Scotland this week ahead of his funeral on Friday. Mr Graham had four children and four grandchildren, who were his "pride and joy", and he was described by neighbours as a colourful character who was liked by everyone.

His home in Mayfield, Dalkeith, where he and Pamela have lived since 1970, was today full of flowers and condolence cards.

This was the couple's 11th cruise, but their first to the Far East, and Mrs Graham, a former nurse, said her husband had died doing what he loved.

"He loved cruises, and we had always wanted to go to the Far East, so this was the trip of a lifetime," she said. "We had joined the ship in Singapore and went to Koh Samui, where they filmed The Beach. It was incredible.

"We have been on a cruise every year since 1997, and he just loved them. We went through the Suez Canal, to South America and around Europe, and I think he loved the fact that everything was provided for you on board.

"In the early days we would do a lot of ballroom dancing as well, and he loved the entertainment."

Born in the Lawnmarket area of Edinburgh and educated at James Gillespie's and Boroughmuir, Mr Graham became a photographer upon leaving school, then joined the RAF and served in West Africa during World War II. He married Pamela in the former Hunter's Square registry office in Edinburgh in 1952. He later worked as a salesman for radio and TV companies, and at one point ran donkey rides in Devon. He joined Scottish Gas in 1970.

Daughter Alison, 45, said: "He was someone who loved life and he enjoyed it as much as he could, particular with the cruises."

On Friday, Mr Graham's body will be piped along the street by a neighbour, before a service at Mortonhall Crematorium.

His youngest son Alistair, 50, will wear his father's kilt, while daughters Alison and Jane, 53, will read out memories of their father. His two eldest grandchildren, Lesley, 22, and Wendy, 20, are unable to attend the funeral as they are both in South Africa, but are writing a eulogy to be read out at the service.

There will be collections for Action Group, a mental health charity which has helped Mr Graham's eldest son John, 54.