Coronavirus: ‘If you watched your loved ones gasp for air like I did, you’d take it more seriously’, warns daughter

Yvonne Stewart’s father John Fleming contracted the virus while undergoing cancer treatment at Craigavon Area Hospital.

He died on September 3.

In an interview with the News Letter, Mrs Stewart fought back tears to describe in painful detail how she watched her father struggle with “every muscle in his body” for breath as his lungs failed.

She also described how her father had heard his wife’s voice as he lay in hospital but hadn’t got the strength left to open his eyes or speak to his spouse of 57 years.

“People seem to think it’s not going to hit them and if the younger generation think it’s not going to hit them then they can think again,” she warned. “This virus will move on. The ones that refuse to use the masks are the ones that are spreading it. They are being very selfish.”

The family have demanded answers as to how coronavirus found its way into the haematology ward at the hospital, where Mr Fleming was undergoing cancer treatment.

Three other patients have died after catching the virus in the same ward — one of three outbreaks at the hospital.

Tragically, Mr Fleming had been due to go home when his infection was identified.

“My dad had bone cancer, which he was diagnosed with three years ago,” Mrs Stewart said. “He had a round of treatment which he survived. He was due to get treatment whenever lockdown happened but they put it on hold, and they said he could manage okay but it would have to start up again.

“He was sheltering, we sheltered him here [at home] from the 17th of March up until he went into hospital. He had been well and in good spirits.

“He had no qualms about going into the hospital. He was assured the hospital was Covid free.”

She continued: “He was for coming home. My mum had to go in and do a wee course with the doctors for her to give him his medication.

“It was Monday the 24th of August that he was diagnosed. My mum found out on the 25th because she was going in with his clothes, expecting to be bringing him home. Mum was just in shock.”

The news proved difficult for the family to deal with.

“She told the rest of the family and we were in shock,” Mrs Stewart said. “My mum’s fear was that she brought it in. But I knew she couldn’t have brought it in because we had shielded, and he didn’t go in with it.

“And the relief – it was quite quick, the next day – when they told her she was negative.

“She was so afraid of it being her that brought this into the ward.”

As the 79-year-old’s condition deteriorated, he was moved to the hospital’s respiratory ward.

Visiting restrictions meant, initially, only one designated visitor was allowed to see him.

But when it became clear he might not pull through, other family members were permitted to come and say their goodbyes.

“All the family were allowed in for half an hour to see my dad and say their goodbyes,” Mrs Stewart said. “Whenever we got up to my dad, my mum and I took it so hard. He could hear my mum’s voice and he turned his head — he was trying so hard because he wanted to tell her something. He hadn’t the strength — Covid took it away. He couldn’t even open his eyes.”

Describing her visit with her father, Mrs Stewart continued: “I was holding his hand and talking to him. We didn’t bargain for this, did we? He wanted me to tell his story. He didn’t want to die. He wanted everyone to know that this was covid killing him. He didn’t want to be another number. And he didn’t want people saying he died with Covid through other underlying issues. He was getting out. He was ready to come home. He didn’t want to die. He was frightened.”

She said a nurse had removed Mr Stewart’s mask to allow him to speak.

“When he was able to talk to me because she took the mask off him for a while, the told me he didn’t want to die, he had loads of things he still wanted to do, and that ‘I’m not going to make it,” she said.

“He said I want you to tell my story but you’re going to need to be very, very strong’. I just said Daddy, sure you know I am strong and I will tell your story. He said you need someone strong behind you.”

Fighting back tears, she continued: “Watching him trying to breathe…. And every muscle in his body fighting for air, straining to help him breathe. On top of that, the front of their body — their organs starting to fail, one by one, agonisingly. His lungs was gone, his kidneys was gone. One by one each organ was shutting down to the point…”

Addressing people who aren’t taking coronavirus restrictions seriously, she said: “If they had to stand and watch their closest relatives gasping for air, trying to talk and they can’t get the words out — the brain’s still working but the body is shut down — they would take it more seriously.

“They think it’s not going to happen to them.”

She believes there may still be issues with infection control at Craigavon Area hospital which have not yet been resolved, even after the deaths of her father and three other patients.

Health Minister Robin Swann has announced that a ‘Serious Adverse Incident’ review will be carried out.

Mrs Stewart said she is taking a “wait and see” approach to the investigation but insisted the family want answers around how her 79-year-old father caught the virus in hospital.

“He felt let down that it managed to get into the ward,” she said. “My dad didn’t blame the nurses or the doctors. He blamed the system.”

She added: “I do.”

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