He got engaged just two months ago
A dad collapsed and died while helping his son move into a university dorm.
Jeremy Tillman, a dad of five, appeared in distress inside an Arkansas State University campus residential building where he was helping his son, Jace Tillman, ahead of the new term in Jonesboro.
The 45-year-old’s partner, Elizabeth Goodson, said the “selfless” dad, suddenly stopped breathing and had a “very sudden medical event as we were moving things in. I guess he may have strained too hard.”
The car salesman had been engaged to 39-year-old Goodson, a mum-of-six, for less than two months, having popped the question at Machu Picchu, Peru, in June.
Today reported that the grandfather-of-two had stopped breathing and foam was “pouring” out of his mouth.
Emergency responders performed CPR and used a defibrillator in a bid to restart Tillman’s heart but he was declared dead after arriving at St Bernard’s Medical Center.
His daughter, Hanna Brazil wrote on Facebook: “I realize now why you always told me I was strong.
“You knew one day I would need the strength to bear your loss. I just never imagined it would come this soon. My sweet father, this feels unreal.”
Goodson, who reportedly wore her engagement dress to her husband-to-be’s funeral, said Tillman treated her six children like his own “without hesitation”. She added that the “epitome of what a man and father should be”.
She told KARK: “He just took everyone in and loved them like his own, so he is deeply loved by all of his children.
“Despite working full-time and part-time at home, he rarely missed important events, and he always made time for movie nights, soccer in the yard, or pull-up competitions.
‘He took me and my six children, and chose to integrate us into his life without hesitation.”
Goodson said Tillman “showed our children how a man should treat a woman, and how to be intentional with your word.”
“There is just a void in our lives that will just never be filled, he was irreplaceable,” she added.
Jace posted a montage of childhood photos of him and his dad on Facebook, while another son, Jaymi Tillman, wrote on the social media platfom how he missed his dad “so much already.”
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