‘My husband had no Covid symptoms – but less than 24 hours later he was dead’
A PENSIONER has told of her shock after her husband died suddenly from suspected Covid-19, despite having shown no prior symptoms of the virus.
Pat Pearce had been at home with Allan, her partner of 38 years, at their bungalow in Penarth earlier this month when he suddenly became unwell.
He was taken to the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, with a suspected angina attack, but the next morning, the 75-year-old received a call telling her he’d passed away.
“I keep thinking he’s going to walk back through the door any minute, I can’t really process what’s happened,” said Pat, a retired stock room worker.
“We’d been self-isolating for weeks and he’d not been ill at all, apart from complaining about a touch of heartburn.
“So eventually I rang the doctor’s surgery [Friday, April 24] and, from the description I gave, they told me to ring 999 because it sounded like he was having an angina attack. That was about 6pm.”
But before an ambulance could arrive, Allan, who’d been fitted with a pacemaker in 2019 and suffered from a neuromuscular disease called Myasthenia gravis, took a turn for the worse.
“I heard a huge thud and when I went out in to the hall I found him on the floor in a terrible mess,” added Pat. “He was conscious, but couldn’t talk, only grunt. So I kept him comfortable the best I could and called 999 again.
“Now I just can’t help wondering if things might have been different had the ambulance not taken so long to turn up.”
Paramedics finally arrived in the early hours of Saturday [1.28am], more than six hours later, to take Allan to the Heath, where he tested positive for coronavirus.
“It was a cold, damp night and he was only in his boxer shorts with a dressing gown draped round his shoulders.
“I was told I couldn’t go with him, though and, at 5.30am a doctor called me from the hospital and told me Allan wouldn’t last until Monday because his organs breaking down.
“I asked one of the nurses there to tell him I was sorry I couldn’t be with him and that I loved him very much.
“But then another call came through at 11.15 that same day saying he’d died.”
Pat said that the lack of closure means she can’t accept her husband is actually gone.
“I just don’t get how he could have caught it – other than popping to the shop one time to get the daily paper, neither of us have left the house for ages.
“He didn’t even go into the garden during all the recent warm weather.
“Now I’m alone in the house, surrounded by all his stuff and his clothes still hanging up, and it just feels surreal – like he’s going to walk back through the door at any minute.”
Instead, with her husband’s body having already been cremated, the best Pat can hope for is to scatter his ashes somewhere that was close to his heart.
“We both loved it over in Corfu,” she said. “We’ve been going there for more were already than 20 years and were booked to fly out there again about now.
“So I’m hoping when all this is over I’ll be able to go there one last time and say my goodbyes properly.”
A spokesperson for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: “Our thoughts are with Mrs Pearce and her family at this difficult time.
“Our bereavement service has been in contact with Mrs Pearce as per our usual practice, but we would encourage her to please contact our Patient Experience team, who will be able to discuss this further with her, and direct her to the available support.”
Lee Brooks, director of operations at the Welsh Ambulance Service, added, “We were saddened to hear the news about Mr Pearce’s passing and would like to extend our condolences to Mrs Pearce and the wider family.
“We understand that Mrs Pearce will have questions about our response on that evening and would encourage contact with us directly so that we can understand the experience further and answer those questions.”