Husband's coronavirus symptoms mistaken for heartbreak after wife of 76 years dies

The family of a grieving husband who lost his fight to Covid-19 two weeks after the death of his wife of 76 years said his symptoms of the devastating virus were mistaken for heartbreak.

Nicky Guest-Walmsley, 63, said her parents Dick, 95, and Jean, 97, had never spent a day apart since 1943 and would have celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary together in August at the care home where they lived.

But when her mother died of old age in April, Nicky, from Market Weighton, East Yorks, said her dad was left 'absolutely heartbroken' and had stopped eating his food.

However less than two weeks later the bereaved grandfather of two was taken to hospital when he began struggling for breath and died, just two days after testing positive for coronavirus, on May 15.

Now Nicky has urged people to take the newly recognised symptom - losing your sense of taste and smell - more seriously after realising that her dad's loss of appetite was a red flag that she believes could have saved him.

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She said: "We didn't even know dad was ill, he had got a bit agitated and irritated before he passed, he wasn't enjoying his food, he stopped eating and started complaining that the food was crap.

"But we now know that was because he had lost his sense of smell and taste.

"I think we all thought he was being a bit stubborn because he was missing mum and his family.

"We usually go to see him daily, but we obviously couldn't see him because we were in lockdown.

"He was absolutely heartbroken by the death of mum.

"They hadn't spent a day apart in 76 years - even though mum went into the home two years before him, he still went to see her every day.

"When the paramedics came and wanted to take him to hospital, I told him 'you need to either go to hospital and fight to stay alive to see your great grandchildren or you stop fighting and go to be with mum'.

"He said he wanted to see his great grandchildren grow up but when they took him away that was the last time I ever saw him."

Nicky, who lost her own husband, David, 70, to prostate cancer in 2013, stopped working to look after her parents six years ago, which she did full-time until her dad joined the care home in February this year.

Having lost her mum in April the mum of two insisted on visiting the home to discuss arrangements for the funeral with the great grandfather of three.

But after visiting Dick in person Nicky was concerned that there could be something more seriously wrong with his health than just grief.

Despite her concerns, a Covid-19 test that Nicky conducted on her dad at the home came back negative.

However, just 12 days after losing his wife, Dick's breathing began to deteriorate and the following day he was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary, where it was confirmed that he had the virus and he died two days later.

Nicky said: "Mum had been dead a week and I had to ask him what he wanted me to do in terms of the funeral.

"I filled a bag with goodies that would usually tempt him but they were still there a week after I'd left them and they were completely untouched.

"I knew that there was something more serious going on.

"In the early hours of the Tuesday morning his breathing was really bad and he was struggling to breathe.

"The paramedics said they wanted to take him in to hospital because his oxygen levels were down to 80% and that his organs would start to fail.

"But he didn't want to leave me.

"I don't think he was fully conscious of what they were saying.

"I sat with him for 22 hours and he was very restless so I asked the nurses at the care home if we could give him some end-of-life drugs but the only way that they could do that was by calling out the paramedics again.

"By that time his oxygen levels were at 56% I could see that he was gasping for breath.

"Within a few hours of being in hospital he had tested positive for coronavirus and had been moved to a Covid-positive ward."

Dick died in the early hours of the Friday morning, and is now having a joint funeral on June 5 with his beloved wife.

But heartbroken Nicky reinforced the importance of recognising anosmia, a loss of taste or smell, and acting on it quickly to save losing your loved ones.

The family of the couple are now raising funds for the Market Weighton Hedgehogs in memory of the pair, who regularly saved the prickly creatures in their spare time.

"I want people to take the symptoms more seriously.

"It was very hard to know to what extent he was off his food because I couldn't see him until it was too late.

"Dad had only gone into the home in February and I'm now thinking if he hadn't gone in maybe this would've never happened to him."