Son’s ‘complete shock’ as both parents die of Covid within 12 hours of each other

Owen and Bredge Ward, both 69, passed away at Altnagelvin Hospital on Tuesday.

Son Martin Ward said that although his mother’s condition had been deteriorating, his father appeared to be on the mend.

However, his mother died and his father’s condition “completely collapsed within a couple of hours” of her death.

Speaking to BBC NI, Mr Ward said: “The last couple of days my father was improving, my mother was getting worse.

“And then my mother died yesterday. So from a position where my father was kind of getting better he just completely collapsed within a couple of hours of my mother dying.

“And even though they were heavily sedated, both of them had pain relief, had loving care from the staff in Altnagelvin Hospital, both of them just completely collapsed within a matter of hours and that’s just how it is.

“That is the hurt and suffering that is caused to different families. And it’s the same message that we need to get across - just look after people, adhere to the guidelines and care about other people.”

Martin, one of six children, held his father’s hand as he died, while his siblings were present at the funeral home with his mother.

He works as a nurse at University College Hospital Galway.

He said both parents “doted” on their nine grandchildren and, sadly, they will never get to see their 10th grandchild.

“We can’t have a proper wake, hear all the stories that people would be talking about.

“We can’t do that because of Covid-19 and all the restrictions, which need to be in place,” he said.