Heartbroken daughter of COVID-19 victim calls for people to be 'overcautious' to 'stop anyone going through what I have'

Deborah Buchanan, from Newtownabbey, shared a sad image last week of her family gathered around her mother on her deathbed.

Her mum - Joan Wright who was 75-years-old and father Charlie Wright who is 80-years - moved to Cumbria from Northern Ireland fifteen years ago.

Deborah says they were hoping to move home when a house became available.

But sadly Joan passed away in Furness General Hospital last week.

Speaking to the News Letter Deborah, who is in England helping arrange her mother's funeral, said she wanted to tell people not to rush out of lockdown.

"Stay at home. The government may be easing the rules but people should still be overcautious.

"People will become more relaxed and figures will increase again, I don’t want anyone else to go through this.

"The best way to prevent it is to stay at home and if you do have to go out, keep your distance from everyone, even those you know.

"You may not take unwell with this but you could carry it and pass it on to someone who could die.

"You could be the reason someone dies if you do not take precautions".

In a Facebook post over the weekend Deborah explained her reason for sharing her mother's deathbed picture.

She writes: "It breaks my heart to write this status. My mum asked me to take this photo last night around 3am, those were some of the last words she said to me.

"My mum and dad both tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday after being admitted to hospital on Friday evening.

"I received a call from the hospital in England at 4pm yesterday requesting we get there ASAP.

"We arrived at 1.30am and were provided full PPE to go and see our parents.

"In this photo she was happy, talking, joking, pulling faces and giving us grief as usual, she was doing well despite being on a ventilator.

"Several hours later we got a call to say we had to go back as she wasn’t so good.

"Shortly after we arrived today, we put our PPE on and entered the room where my mum sadly passed away a very short time later, my dad holding her hand and us by her side.

"We had to watch her gasp her last breaths and slip away in agony.

"My dad says this is the worst thing he has ever felt in his life, he fears going to sleep incase he doesn’t wake up.

"They hadn’t left the house in weeks but still picked this up and both took very unwell.

"My dad is still in hospital and not out of the woods yet, his heart is broken and he has to continue to fight to try and beat this.

"This is the reality of Coronavirus.

"Wake up and wise up.

"This is not going away anytime soon and more and more people are going to die.

"Don’t let it be your parent or grandparent or any member of your family who ends up like this.

"Stay away from those you love, and protect yourselves and them.

"We were lucky we got to be with our mother/wife/grandmother when she passed away, so many families aren’t given the chance to be with their loved ones and cannot say goodbye, people are dying alone and it’s not right.

"We went into the hospital today with 2 parents and came out with 1 and a plastic bag of belongings we can’t even touch.

"Please, stay at home, please do not go through the heartache we have had to. Ours isn’t over yet.

"I want to add that although my parents did not leave the house in weeks, they did have care workers and medical professionals coming into their home.

"So many people are asking how it’s possible when they didn’t leave, anything is possible with this virus".