Heartbroken family’s plea after losing both parents to coronavirus in six days

Jack, 73, and Joyce Hargreaves, 72, from Lower Darwen, had been shielding and following the rules by having their shopping delivered.

They did not leave their house during the first lockdown in March and April.

The couple had been married for 52 years but died within six days of each other at the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

Their daughters, Lynda Beck and Joanne Derbyshire, who were also admitted to hospital with coronavirus around the same time, are reminding people, along with brother John, of the potentially fatal effects of Covid and asked everyone to do what they can to stamp out the virus.

Joanne said: “Dad became ill with what he thought was a cold from around October 17, and by October 22, mum had started with a little non-persistent cough at night, so we booked them in for a coronavirus test at the Darwen walk-in testing centre on October 24.

“Their test results came back positive on October 26, and they both had a telephone consultation with their doctor who said he thought they had mild symptoms and to keep taking paracetamol and drink plenty, and to call for another appointment if necessary.

Jack and Joyce Hargreaves

“Within 24 hours dad had taken a bad turn and he could not breathe properly.

“Mum rang for an ambulance and he was admitted to the hospital on October 27 at 10.30am. He was in hospital for six days then ventilated and died six days later on 7th November and he was in ICU/critical care for 12 days in total.

“He was very poorly and we had limited contact with him throughout his time in ICU.

“His condition deteriorated and on Saturday, November 7, dad took his last breath and our lives as we knew then changed forever.

“Our mum started with Covid sickness on October 27 and by midnight on October 28 she was admitted to Royal Blackburn ICU as she was unable to keep anything down. Within 36 hours of dad being admitted, mum was admitted too.

“She was put on a drip and given anti-sickness medication for 24 hours and texted us to say she was feeling much better.

“On November 2, the acute care team assessed her and she too was moved to ICU and placed on a machine to aid her breathing. She stayed there until she sadly passed away on November 13.

John added: “We were allowed to be with both mum and dad when they took their last breaths and our hearts were broken beyond repair… the unthinkable had happened, we had lost both our beloved, amazing parents within six days of each other.”

Other members of their family have also been very ill from the virus.

Lynda said: “There are people out there who have not been directly affected by Covid who think it is all a conspiracy theory.

“Speaking from our family’s experience, seven of our family members in total have contracted coronavirus. It is relentless.

“Mum and I suffered dreadfully with Covid-19 sickness and diarrhoea, which is not a very well-known symptom.

“I was lucky enough to be discharged after treatment. Mum was admitted.

“When you go on the website to book a test it only mentions high temperature, new persistent cough and loss of taste and smell. There are so many more symptoms. Like I said, our dad thought he had a cold for a week before he was tested.

“Covid symptoms can change very quickly as mum’s progressed from sickness to pneumonia within six days, and it attacked our dad’s organs, causing multi-organ failure.

“Yes, they were over 70, which is why they shielded, but they were relatively fit and active.

“My sister was also taken into A&E with breathing difficulties, due to coronavirus and was thankfully released once she had been stabilised.

“We know that some people have mild symptoms, others are asymptomatic, but our families’ experience has taken our lovely mum and dad, who had not flouted the rules. They had done everything they were told to do and it got them.

“Our family will not be the same without them and we feel robbed and totally heartbroken.”

The family say that the date of October 26 will be imprinted in their memories forever as they cried when Joanne rang to say their parents had tested positive.

Lynda said: “We all stood on the street when my dad was taken into hospital and told him to fight it.

“We couldn’t hug him. You can’t visit from that point on, until they lose their battle and it is the end of their lives – when your instinct is to be there around the clock and hold their hands as they did with you as a child, growing up, when you were poorly.

“The whole Covid situation is so cruel. When they die you can’t give them the send-off they deserve. You are limited to 22 mourners in the crematorium and we could have 25 in the church – this was for a double cremation.

“We couldn’t carry their coffins. We couldn’t have open coffins. We will be forever grateful to the Royal Blackburn ICU staff for allowing us to be with mum and dad until they passed away.

“We have no idea how mum and dad contracted Covid – what we do know is that it was relentless and ravaged their bodies until it won.”

Now the family are calling on people to take coronavirus seriously, especially over Christmas when rules are temporarily relaxed, to avoid more tragedies.

to protect your friends and relatives who are elderly or have underlying health complaints. Please keep to the social distancing rules and wear a mask.

“The vaccine being rolled out and will hopefully be a game-changer. it is a matter of months before life potentially returns to a new normal for us all. We would hate for anyone else to go through this pain and distress needlessly.

“We clapped for the NHS during the first wave of coronavirus. Back then it felt like it was a million miles away from Blackburn as our cases were relatively low compared to London.

“This is not the case now. Blackburn has had to double its ICU beds, people are dying without the love and support of their family and it just adds to family and staff’s devastation.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A FUNDRAISING page has been set up to thank the ‘amazing’ intensive care unit teams at Royal Blackburn Hospital after the death of Jack and Joyce Hargreaves.

More than £7,000 has been donated by family since the couple’s joint funeral service on November 27.

Joanne said: “As our parents had decided they wanted to be cremated, as a family we decided that instead of having funeral flowers we would like to continue their legacy of giving and we set up a Just Giving page to raise funds for the RBH ICU/Critical Care Department, who worked tirelessly to try to save them both.

“These staff are under immense pressure and are working 13-hour shifts, often surviving off cans of Coke and Boost bars.

“We originally set a target of £1,000, which we smashed on the first night our current total is over £6,500 but with donations in cash and to Alty’s funeral service we anticipate we will raise in excess of £7,000.

“As a family we have been humbled by the amount we have raised in their memory and donations from people who didn’t even know them, or how wonderful they were; and by the hundreds of messages of support, flowers, cards and gifts we have received as a family.

“Our lives have been blown apart and will never be the same as we have lost the glue that holds our family together, but we will do what our parents have taught us – ‘keep putting one foot in front of the other, carry on and don’t look back’.

Lynda added: “Mum and dad lived in Lower Darwen for 50 years and were instrumental in starting the Lower Darwen Youth Club in the 80s and roping in many of their friends to help so that they could run it twice a week.

“They organised day trips, Friday discos, fund-raising events etc.

“Our house growing up was open house for all the kids in the village and it was testament to the love and support they showed to the village kids over the years that so many of them lined the streets to pay their respects.

“Mum was also granny owl at St James’s Brownies and Rainbows at the age of 72.

“They both have left a lasting legacy to the children, young and old of Lower Darwen.

“We held their joint funeral on Friday 27th November and many people turned up to pay their respects, and lined their street.”

To donate to the cause then go to www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/hargreaves?utm_term=Ebe3VnNpy.