Coronavirus victim John Fleming’s daughter plays Amazing Grace on pipes as clergyman issues Covid warning

A clergyman has issued a heartfelt appeal to the public about the dangers of coronavirus following the funeral of a man who died after catching the virus in hospital.
By The Newsroom
Published 8th Sep 2020, 18:57 BST
PACEMAKER BELFAST 25/08/2020 Five patients in a cancer ward at Craigavon Area Hospital have tested positive for Covid-19. A member of staff on the Haematology Ward is also affected. Others have been sent home to self-isolate, and the ward has been closed to new admissions. The families of patients are being contacted by the Southern Health Trust. It is the second confirmed outbreak at the hospital, which treated the highest number of Covid-19 patients in NI during the height of the pandemic.PACEMAKER BELFAST 25/08/2020 Five patients in a cancer ward at Craigavon Area Hospital have tested positive for Covid-19. A member of staff on the Haematology Ward is also affected. Others have been sent home to self-isolate, and the ward has been closed to new admissions. The families of patients are being contacted by the Southern Health Trust. It is the second confirmed outbreak at the hospital, which treated the highest number of Covid-19 patients in NI during the height of the pandemic.
PACEMAKER BELFAST 25/08/2020 Five patients in a cancer ward at Craigavon Area Hospital have tested positive for Covid-19. A member of staff on the Haematology Ward is also affected. Others have been sent home to self-isolate, and the ward has been closed to new admissions. The families of patients are being contacted by the Southern Health Trust. It is the second confirmed outbreak at the hospital, which treated the highest number of Covid-19 patients in NI during the height of the pandemic.

John Fleming, a 79-year-old great-grandfather from Loughgilly in Co Armagh, is one of four patients who died after contracting coroanvirus in the haematology ward at Craigavon Area Hospital.

Mr Fleming had been undergoing treatment for cancer but his family had been expecting him to be discharged when he sadly caught the virus in hospital.

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His daughter, Yvonne Stewart, has demanded answers about how the coronavirus outbreak happened in spite of infection control measures at Craigavon.

An accomplished piper, she played Amazing Grace during a funeral service held on a country road outside Mr Fleming’s home on Tuesday due to public health guidelines.

Rev Nigel Reid, of Mountnorris Presbyterian Church, said Mr Fleming’s family have been left “devastated” by his death.

The family followed strict rules during the service, which Rev Reid described as “very traumatic”.

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“It was a short service on a country road,” he told the News Letter. “It was very difficult for the family to follow all the guidelines but they did follow them. Yvonne, played the pipes — Amazing Grace — during the service.”

Describing Mr Fleming, Rev Reid said: “He was widely respected in the community and he was very gifted and able with his hands, working on machinery. He was retired but he was extremely gifted with plant machinery.

“He worked on the North Sea on oil terminals in the Shetlands.”

He continued: “John was married for 57 years and his widow is just devastated, are as his four children, his seven grandchildren and his three great-grandchildren. He had been unwell for some time but the family were expecting him to be discharged when he contracted the coronavirus. It is awful.”

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Rev Reid added: “I personally felt emotional for the family as they watched their loved one’s remains drive off and they were unable to go with him. The circumstances have been extremely severe for this family — I felt pain for this family.

“I would appeal to everybody to abide by the regulations because the consequences of Covid-19 for families like the Flemings are devastating. My biggest sympathies and thoughts and prayers are with the Flemings and to everyone who has lost loved ones as a result of this pandemic.”

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