I watched a Queen documentary in which Dave Clark claims he was there at the end with Freddie. He said "Freddie just smiled and went" and he said "I was there on my own".
This account does not match with Peter Freestone's account or Jim Hutton's account, neither of whom mentioned Dave Clark being there as far as I can remember.
Interestingly, the death of Mozart and the death of Chopin are recorded with some fairly wild conflicting accounts, and Freddie Mercury would probably in some way like that.
Was Dave Clark lying about being there?
No, I'm not a ghoul, but I can't find on this forum where that's been dealt with.
I have Phoebe’s book *Freddie Mercury* on my iPad, so I checked. Peter’s account is that Dave Clark was alone with Freddie and came downstairs to ask Peter and Jim to come up to help Freddie to the lavatory, which was something they habitually did for him. While Jim and Peter were caring for Freddie he stopped breathing. Then there is some detail about how Gordon Atkinson arrived (he had been driving away) and then pronounced Freddie dead.
There isn’t any detail about what Dave Clark did after coming downstairs. Presumably he stepped out while Peter and Jim were taking care of Freddie.
So he wasn’t lying about being there, but the details are a bit different depending on who is telling the story.
From Peter’s account Dave C was a good friend to Freddie in the end, because he was able to provide friendship without making demands. That’s my words, the sense I got from the book. I think that’s what’s most important, even though there does seem to be sometimes competition among Freddie’s friends, in this case over who was there at the end.
OK I think I realise what happened. Dave Clark was probably there when it happened and perhaps didn't want to be the one to break it to Peter and Jim, and let them gently realise for themselves.
It's possible he is remembering incorrectly, He's thinking of a moment Freddie did stop breathing for a minute or two and mixing it up.
Those last few hours a person has what's called a death rattle and it's very noticeable when the breathing get sporadic, it's horrible.
I cant understand why the doctor was driving away and forgot to mntion that freddie had death rattle.they must all knew from the doctor that he had few hours left so why they want to carry him at the wc..when someone is dying you dont move him.you let him at bed and you just hold his hend....
^it's in the past and I'm certain everyone (*tried) to do their best. Why criticize something intensely private that you were not privy to?
By an account, he needed help to the loo and everyone wished to accommodate his wishes as long as they could.
These situations are extraordinarily hard to go through for EVERYBODY I'm certain of that. They can become so trying to people wish not to remember them
I cant understand why the doctor was driving away and forgot to mention that freddie had death rattle.they must all knew from the doctor that he had few hours left so why they want to carry him at the wc..when someone is dying you dont move him.you let him at bed and you just hold his hand....
nikilabiri wrote:
I cant understand why the doctor was driving away and forgot to mention that freddie had death rattle.they must all knew from the doctor that he had few hours left so why they want to carry him at the wc..when someone is dying you dont move him.you let him at bed and you just hold his hand....
There is no such thing as the "death rattle." You've been watching too many cowboy movies. Freddie wasn't bitten by a rattler at Desperado Gulch.
Actually there is such a thing as “death rattle” but there is no mention of it in Phoebe’s book. It is something that *can* happen, not that necessarily does. I was with my Mom when she died last November, and the nurses explained this possibility carefully to me so that I wouldn’t be alarmed if it happened. Like Freddie my Mom had a DNR order. There is a seemingly decent explanation on wikipedia if anyone wants to read about the cause.
It was Dr. Atkinson’s opinion that Freddie had several days to live. He had done the doctoring he could for the day and left. He was Freddie’s doctor not part of his 24/7 care team. Phoebe relayed this info to Freddie’s parents and suggested they come another day when Freddie was feeling better.
It is a real thing, it's like fluid in the throat as the body shuts down. Unmistakeable once you have heard it.
Remember Freddie had pneumonia, so his breathing may have been noisey anyway.