Interview with Matthew Walsh

On April 3, 2023, I interviewed Matthew Walsh on zoom to talk about his experience losing a father while being away from home. Matt is a medical student in Long Island, originally from Rochester, NY. He is the older brother of Molly Walsh.

Matthew's father, George Walsh, was admitted to the hospital the week before Matt's first medical school exam. He received updates through his mom and sister, but was never aware of the severity of his dad's condition, as he was far away and busy with medical school. On October 23, 2023, he got a call from his mom while studying saying his dad was not going to make it through the night and that he should facetime his father to say goodbye. Matt did this, went to bed not knowing what was happening, and woke up to a call from his mom saying his father has passed. Two hours later, he was sitting in a classroom taking his exam with his mind in a complete different headspace.

Matthew was unable to be at home with his grieving family until a month later when he came home from Thanksgiving break. The Walsh's waited to have George's mass service until Matt was able to be home. The morning of the mass service, Matt tested positive for COVID-19 and was unable to attend the service. This took a serious mental toll saying, "I don't even know how to describe the emotions I was feeling in that moment because I didn't feel like I got to say goodbye to him in the moment and I didn't feel like I got to say goodbye to him in a service for him."

Matt also experience circumstances similar to Bryce where his course material included instances that occurred to his dad, such as doing an intubation workshop. He struggles grasping separating school to his personal circumstances, but claims that his course load is so heavy that it helps him focus and not think about the grief as much.

Matt expresses gratitude to his close friends from undergraduate and medical school who were always by his side. He found that being social helped him not fall into a depression if he were to be alone and grieving. Despite this, Matt felt as if he needed to be strong and the support system for his mom and sister as he is the oldest child and felt the obligation to.

In the future, Matt is most upset about the moment when he becomes an attending physician where he will not have his father there to see this milestone. He never expected to lose a parent so young and wishes he had more time to prepare the loss.

Matt's favorite memories growing up with his father were related to football where George would attend all his games and would take him to see the Bills.