Bruce Saunders has passed away

[scaber]

Bruce Saunders (BruceE) who many of you have had contact with via the forums has sadly passed away. He caught the COVID-19 virus and was admitted to hospital on the 24th of April and after fighting against the virus had to be placed on a ventilator. He eventually succumbed to the damage to his lungs and kidneys on Sunday the 3rd of May.

Bruce was active in a number of areas and forums as part of his flight simulation life
- Bruce was a keen advocate of the use of the A2A GA aircraft and these were always on his short list for our OZx flights. In particular he enjoyed the Comanche and the Spitfire.
- He was very active in the OZx forums early on while the website was up and running
- More recently he had been involved in the Orbx Addon Scenery forums working to make the OZx airfields work in with the new Orbx Australia version 2.
- He also spent a lot of time flying with Digital Theme Park, and Pilot Edge where he achieved all their qualifications.

Lately a lot of his is attention has been with the Planning of Friday and Tuesday night flights for the OZx flying Club. These flights were undertaken using JoinFS and Digital Theme Park's Team Speak Servers.
Bruce's contribution will be sorely missed with his enthusiasm and planning being driving forces in the success of the OZx Flying Club. He recently purchased new computer equipment, and very recently updated to P3Dv5; it was good that he was able to use both of these in pursuit of his favorite pastime before he left us.

If any of you feel like making any comments or relating stories or memories, I will collate them and forward them to his wife.

[Hobart Escin]

Although I did not know Bruce personally, I'm very sorry for the loss his family now suffers. Covid 19 is real and it is merciless. Irregardless of what different entities tell you about the virus, please protect yourself by wearing a mask in public along with practicing social distancing at the same time until a vaccine is available. Even White House staff members in close proximity to the President and Vice President here in the U.S.A. have recently contracted the Covid virus. Covid damn near killed the British Prime Minister last month.

A vaccine will eventually be developed and the pandemic will end with that event, but until such a time keep your defenses up, especially if you fall into the vulnerable age group (65+) or have pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or renal failure, irregardless of your age.

[BPL]

This is terrible news. I didn’t know Bruce personally, but clearly he made significant contributions to our hobby and helped bring much enjoyment to his fellow flight simmers. I extend my sincere condolences to his wife and other loved ones in this painful time of loss they now endure. Praying for them.

[trucker17]

This is terrible news.
His family is in my thoughts and prayers.

[Busty_Bomber]

He caught the COVID-19 virus and was admitted to hospital on the 24th of April and after fighting against the virus had to be placed on a ventilator. He eventually succumbed to the damage to his lungs and kidneys on Sunday the 3rd of May.

I don't mean any dis-respect but I've seen alot videos on youtube of doctors beeing taken down. And one of the things they talked about is putting covid patients on ventilators would kill them. Covid 19 patients can recover from this. But I say CAN.

[MrMe85]

I think I've seen his posts a few times. Sad news.

I don't mean any dis-respect but I've seen alot videos on youtube of doctors beeing taken down. And one of the things they talked about is putting covid patients on ventilators would kill them. Covid 19 patients can recover from this. But I say CAN.

The purpose of putting people on ventilators is if they get ARDS (Acute respiratory distress syndrome) as a result of the infection. Basically, it's when you can't breathe on your own because your lungs are too inflamed. The purpose of putting a person on a ventilator is to support the breathing until the person gets better and can breathe on their own again. As you can imagine, the person would have to be in a pretty critical state for this to happen. Anyways, this is just my interpretation of this, as I'm no doctor.

[bladerunner900]

Damn. Just... damn. My condolences to his family.

As for ventilators, they just help you breathe. They come with the chance of infections or lung damage, but I would assume the stronger and fitter you are the greater your chances. Plus of course, the vigilance of those caring for you. For now, fighting the virus itself is up to the persons immune system.

Steve.

[JJB17463rdBombGroup]

I am so sorry that we have actually lost a member here (or any person for that matter) because of this horrific new virus.
Anyone who brushes this off and doesn't fear being infected is taking a terrible risk not worth losing a life over.
I am sorry to the family of Bruce and wish that it had never occurred to him.
May you all (and we too) take very much care until this situation is resolved.
I hope that we learn from this and not lose another forum member let us hope.
Be afraid be very afraid so that saying goes.

[Scott - A2A]

If any of you feel like making any comments or relating stories or memories, I will collate them and forward them to his wife.

My comment is, thank you Scaber for making such a nice, respectful post about Bruce. Bruce was part of our family here so thank you for posting this. It will likely be here for decades to come.

Scott

[wblackret]

My thoughts and prayers are with his family. This is proof, more than ever, we are all in this together. Rest In Peace brother.

[scaber]

Thanks for these comments. I have collated these together with comments from other forums and emailed them to his family. I'm sure that they will appreciate them.

Greg