Died after accident

Widow: “The three of us simply miss Rudi every minute”

Mom Karina with the children Valerie and Maximilian(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

A father from Mühlviertel (35) died after falling off a wall. His wife now has to look after their son and daughter alone, which, in addition to the pain and loss, also causes financial worries. After all, the house they built together is far from paid off.

"Rudi was the perfect husband and dad," says widow Karina (34), fighting back tears as she remembers her late husband. The pain of the sudden loss of her beloved husband and father of her children Valerie (4) and Maximilian (3) is immense. The emotional wounds are still completely open for all three of them - the funeral was just a month ago. "A world collapsed for us when he died, we simply miss him every minute," emphasizes Karina.

It was on 8 November when Rudi wanted to travel to a match in Naarn with the soccer club from his home town (in the Upper Austrian district of Rohrbach). The bus left at 10 a.m., before which the 35-year-old played football with Maximilian, who was very sad when his dad announced that he had to leave. Rudi kissed his son, daughter and wife goodbye.

A family photo from happy times(Bild: Privat)

The last conversation
"Later, he got in touch by phone and said that we were all going to the Leonhardi ride in the neighboring community on Sunday so that Valerie could look at horses," says Karina. It was their last conversation.

At around 2 a.m., the 34-year-old was startled by a call from an acquaintance. "He said that Rudi had fallen off a wall, was being taken to hospital seriously injured and that the crisis intervention team was outside the house."

Dad never woke up
She rushed to Linz and was told by doctors that her husband had suffered a massive brain haemorrhage. An injury that he would most likely not survive. Despite two operations, it was no longer possible to bring his brain pressure under control. On November 19, Karina came to the clinic with the children, where they said goodbye to Rudi, who unfortunately never woke up.

Valerie with a picture of her late dad(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

"He was my great love"
The gap he left behind cannot be filled. "He was warm-hearted, friendly, extremely patient and always in a good mood - there wasn't anyone who didn't like him." Karina and Rudi were together for almost 16 years: "He was my great love." In 2019, the electrician and the accountant built a house that has not yet been paid off. Valerie was born in 2021 and Maximilian in 2022. They got married in the same year.

"He was extremely hard-working and did everything for the family." It was also important to Rudi to actively help out around the house - with cooking and cleaning, for example. And he was a talented sportsman, including being his club's record goalscorer.

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Countless photos as a memento
His love of nature was also legendary; he knew every plant and every bird and had a phenomenal memory. "It's terrible that he's no longer with us. But we talk about him every day and his photos are everywhere in the house." Karina's biggest concern is the future of the children: "But we will continue to stick together!"