Hi Gerry,
You are right about the rules, they are strict and clear, and I was stupid enough not to read them all. I just read "Fully Refundable" below the host's apartment listing and decided that there shouldn't be any problem. Very stupid from my side, nothing to add here.
However, the accident with my father has just happened in fact it's a brain damage so I hope AirBnb will take this into consideration, although it seems so humiliating that I need to rely on this rule instead of getting a real help for a real problem, which may occur to arguably, anyone.
You said: "The host could agree to refund you his earnings if he can sell the room again - but you would need to cancel to free up his diary. You will still however be stuck with the AirBnB booking fee."
What is AirBnB booking fee? How much is it?
Regarding the dates of the reservation - ironically, this is tomorrow instead of August - the reservation was made just a few days ago. Currently the host has no reservations and wont have at all I assume in the next month or two - it's not a season now there, nobody needs the apartment at htis time of the year.
You said: "You can try contact AirBnB and see if they will cancel for you and waive their fees"
I found the AIRBNB HELL and contacted them. Hopefully they will take it from here.
Thank you again for trying to help.