‘Absolutely devastated’: Beloved Redcliffe mum Renee Bow remembered after heartbreaking loss

A Brisbane family, once the centre of a mysterious disappearance, has been left heartbroken again after a husband found his wife unconscious just weeks before life-changing surgery.

A beloved mother of three has tragically died just weeks before a life-changing surgery was due to take place.

Redcliffe mother Renee Bow died on December 30, leaving behind her partner and three children.

Ms Bow’s partner of 20 years Shea Feeney said the family was “absolutely devastated”.

“It is such a shock — it was so sudden,” he said.

On the day in question, Mr Feeney found Ms Bow in their home unconscious and frantically performed CPR while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

It was later discovered Ms Bow had been choking due to an obstruction in her airway extremely far down.

“I was unsure, when I found her unconscious — I was unsure what had happened,” Mr Feeney said.

Shea said ambulance staff had told him there was nothing he could have done, even if he had known.

Ms Bow had suffered from a range of medical issues throughout her life, and Shea said they were still unsure whether those issues had contributed to what happened.

“She had already survived three blood clots on her lungs, she has survived a stroke … And she has had epilepsy, so she has survived multiple seizures,” he said.

Ms Bow’s health had improved greatly in recent years, but then about a year ago, doctors discovered she had a heart murmur.

“She was due to have a valve replacement surgery in the next eight weeks,” Mr Feeney explained.

“After that surgery, most of her health conditions would have been behind her.”

Beloved mum Renee Bow, who passed away on December 30, 2022, after a sudden cardiac arrest believed to have been due to choking. Picture: Supplied

Mr Feeney said he hadn’t worked for some time, as he had taken on the role of Ms Bow’s carer, but said “that was all due to change”.

“I was going to go study nursing this year, after Renee had her surgery … We had plans on painting the house and putting down new flooring and things like that.”

Mr Feeney said Ms Bow had picked out a new flooring for them in the lead up to Christmas, and the family had put it down in recent days in her absence.

“We had so many plans for this year … I just feel like there’s so much left undone,” Mr Feeney said.

He recounted how his partner “always put everybody first,” saying Ms Bow “always wanted to try and help people … She’d put the kids an I before her needs all the time”.

“She treasured everything she kept,” he continued.

“She has a box full of every letter that I wrote her, over the 20 years that we’ve been together.”

Mr Feeney’s Ipswich-based father John said the real story for him was the strength of the couple’s relationship.

John Feeney explained both his son and Ms Bow had suffered great difficulties throughout their lives, with Mr Feeney losing his mum Helen Feeney at a young age after her shocking and highly publicised disappearance.

He said the way the two had loved and supported each other over the years was incredible.

“They’d really gotten to a point where things were looking like they were doing to have a much better time going forward,” said Mr Feeney.

“That’s the tragedy of it.”

Shea Feeney said his father had been a great support since Ms Bow’s passing, but the past few weeks had been extremely difficult for the family.

He said their youngest child, aged just 8, was having “a lot of trouble processing everything that has happened”.

“[The children] are going to need ongoing support … We’re not going to get over it quickly, it’s going to be a long ongoing ordeal for all of us.”

One small blessing, he said, was that Ms Bow’s giving nature had continued to help others even after her passing, as she donated her kidneys and liver to three families.

Mr Feeney recounted how Ms Bow had told him in the lead up to her surgery, that if worse came to worst, if there was “anything there that’s any good,” then it “can go to somebody who needs it”.

“We have found out there are three families who are very thankful for Renee’s ‘gift’ as it were,” Mr Feeney said.

The family has hopes to hold a beautiful funeral for the beloved mother, and has put out a call for community’s aid to help make that happen.

Mr Feeney said he expected funeral costs to total around $15,000.

The family has an active GoFundMe campaign, which has already raised more than $10,000 for the funeral.

Mr Feeney said he was very grateful for the family and friends who had donated so far, and they were hoping to raise enough funds for a memorial plot for Ms Bow in Redcliffe.

Donations can be made to the family here.