Peter's funeral mass took place on Friday 23rd October 2020 and can be viewed on https://youtu.be/69t5lkok0v0
Thank-you for all the wonderful pictures and memories you have shared with us. Please keep adding!
A huge thank-you to everyone who donated in memory of Peter. He would be so pleased to be able to support the care of patients like himself.
In loving memory of Peter de Schulthess who sadly passed away on 1st October 2020.
Peter’s life started on 21st October 1970 in Montreal. The incandescent colours of Quebec’s autumn would have welcomed this much adored little boy, cajoled by Mum Pat, Dad Robin and big Sis Heidi. Peter grew up to enjoy the beauty and vastness of Canada – canoeing across lakes and down rivers, skiing the icy slopes of Mont-Tremblant, camping amongst black flies (was he immune?), tripping coast to coast across the country and listening for loons on the quiet waters of Barklake – surrounded by his precious family and special gang of friends.
Peter was an adventurer - never prouder than when recounting a challenging canoe trip, his sailing across the Atlantic on the Bols’ maxi-yacht, his surviving an attack of Christmas fireworks in Costa Rica, grounding a sailing boat whilst racing around the Isle of Wight, or steering another through a dangerous storm in Croatia. After finishing university, his adventurous spirit took him for a few years to the Cayman Islands where he met more remarkable friends. It then literally sailed him to London, where he would eventually meet his wife Alexia, build a life and raise a family.
Peter was also an engineer - a family profession it appears! As we all know, Peter was never happier than with a complex project at hand – to build a new machine from scratch or to repair a damaged item, making his own replacement parts. He was inventive, curious, focused and very talented. Electronics, wood, metal, fiberglass, programming, you name it… he was versatile and always keen to learn something new.
Peter, of course, was a keen sailor – he started his sailing career early, a young 3-year-old assistant on Robin’s laser, with a budding expertise in undoing hiking strap knots in high winds we heard! (wink). Peter loved being on a boat, feeling the wind, trimming a sail, and enjoying the moment. He relished the intensity of the sport, its technicality, and the many friendships it brought with it. He also loved cruising. ‘There is no better way to arrive in any city than by boat. No traffic, no noise, and you are straight into the centre of the action!’. That suited him very well!
Peter was a wonderful husband, so emotionally strong, so grounded, so honest, so loving. But first and foremost, he was an amazing father. Peter loved Thomas and Alex so much – for them, he found the strength to stay positive, to live through the pain and indignities of his illness, and in the last few years, to see through the constraints of a life at home with no travel. The adventures continued in the workshop – the three men of the house built swords, assembled model planes, bent metal into snake-catching hooks, and videoed mind-blowing science projects. Sailing continued through the lenses of a camera attached on the boom of the boys’ dinghy and in teaching knots and sailing theory from the shore. Peter’s enthusiasm and passion for life never ever stopped. Yes he had doubt and fears, but his smile remained broad, his embrace solid and his spirit sharp and excited.
Sadly, Peter was a patient too, suffering from a serious congenital heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The heart anomaly eventually led to heart failure. Peter was listed for a heart transplant in 2014 and placed in the care of the fantastic team in Harefield Hospital. In early 2015, Peter was fitted with a Left Ventricular Assist Device (L-VAD) which would pump the blood around his body for the next 5.5 years, a magical feast of health science and engineering. Doctors, nurses, surgeons were simply outstanding, all the way. But the L-VAD was only meant to be a bridge, a bridge to a live-saving transplant, the key to a much longer life, a chance to see Thomas and Alex grow into adulthood. Tragically, this is not how the story ended, but Peter would have no regret because a life without hope was not one for him to have.
So how does one sum up the life of someone so dear, so brave, so gentle? By dreaming of his big smile, his beautiful blue eyes, the sun in his hair? By recalling his crazy antics, his goofiness, his travels, his creative energy, his love for his family and especially for his two gorgeous boys? We hope Peter will continue to inspire us with his courage, resilience and zest for life. He really made every minute of every day count.
We miss you so much but you will be with us forever. Rest in peace darling Daddy boy.
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