Dad died suddenly from stroke at 44 - now family fear losing their home
Clint Robinson was gardening when he fell ill
Amanda Conlon and Clint Robinson with one of their children
(Image: Amanda Conlon/SWNS )
A single mum of six fears losing her home after her 'healthy' partner died suddenly from a stroke while gardening. Amanda Conlon, 40, is hoping to raise £200,000 to pay off her mortgage after her partner Clint Robinson, 44, died from a stroke in July 2024.
Clint was out tending to his vegetable patch on a sunny Thursday morning when he came stumbling inside asking his pregnant partner for help.
Amanda said: 'While I rang 999 he was still able to talk a little bit – they were asking what happened and he said he'd got a headache and went dizzy. He went to call our two year old and he said her name wouldn't come out of his mouth.'
Clint was rushed by ambulance to Scunthorpe General Hospital's stroke unit, where he complained that he was unable to feel the left side of his body. Amanda, who rushed to the hospital in pursuit of her partner, said a nurse told her she should return home to allow Clint to rest and had assured her he'd be back to normal by the following day.
When she tried to return to the hospital at 8pm, however, she was told she wasn't allowed to visit her partner of 24 years – but she was assured he was fine. The following morning her worst nightmares came true – doctors said Clint was only responding to touch and that a bleed on his brain had continued overnight.
He was taken to intensive care, but Amanda had to make the difficult decision to turn off his life support after 10 days when she was told there was 'no activity' in his brain. Amanda said she felt like her last hours with her partner, whom she was planning to marry next year, were taken away from her due to the hospital's decision to bar her from visiting.
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She said: 'I called at midnight and they said 'he's fine, he's been asking for you quite a lot but he's gone to sleep now', I said 'please can I come and sit with him then'. I just feel like they took that away from me – any time I could have had left with him, they took it away because they told me he was going to be fine.'
Amanda Conlon and Clint Robinson with their children
(Image: Amanda Conlon/SWNS )
To make matters worse, the mortgage on the couple's home was entirely in Clint's name and the qualified joiner was without life insurance after cancelling it over financial difficulties during the Covid pandemic. The distraught mum was told her home could face repossession if she is unable to remortgage or pay the home off in full.
Orphaned at nine years old, Amanda, who works as a teacher trainer, doesn't have any parents she can rely on for financial help. Now the single mum, whose children are aged 20, 15, eight, three, one and five months, has set up an online fundraiser to pay off Clint's mortgage and ensure her children have somewhere to live – something she knows is a tall order. Amanda has currently raised around £15,000 – a large sum, but under 10% of the target.
She said: 'The amount I'm trying to raise is a substantial amount – I don't want anyone to think 'oh, wouldn't we all like our mortgage to be paid'.
'The reason why I've done it is because I think if I died tomorrow then my children have got a home – it would be my oldest daughter who would need to look after them.
Amanda Conlon and Clint Robinson with one of their daughters
(Image: Amanda Conlon/SWNS )
'If anything were to happen to me, they would have that security. If everybody just put in £1, if 200,000 people put in £1, that would make all the difference.
'I'm not asking anybody for a large amount, I don't even like asking anybody for anything, but I've always helped people and Clint has always helped people. He always told the children that if anybody needs help, it's really important to help.'
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Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust has been contacted for comment.
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