A coronavirus survivor who lost his father-in-law to the virus says that Covid deniers, anti-maskers, and conspiracy theorists should "spend five minutes on a hospital ward watching people fighting for their life.” In March last year, Darren Buttrick was given 15 minutes to say goodbye to his family while in intensive care with Covid-19. He went on to make a full recovery, but on January 2nd his 76-year-old father-in-law was taken to hospital with a temperature and a cough, and died five days later.
"It is real, and it's really disappointing and frustrating that people still think it isn't," Mr Buttrick said. “They should just spend five minutes on a hospital ward, to see those people fighting for their life, fighting for breath alone, no dignity, the nursing staff caring for them like they were their loved ones, it's not nice to see."
Mr Buttrick's wife, Angela, was allowed on to the ward after her father's condition deteriorated. "He didn't realise how bad he was," she said, “He couldn't tolerate having the mask on and having the oxygen forced into his body so when they called me in, they called me in to basically tell me he couldn't do it anymore, and it was his wish that we have to be mindful of that now. He was taken on to another ward then to die".
The family, from Coven in Staffordshire, and both who were treated at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital, said doctors told them that they thought the fast-spreading variant was responsible for Mr Morgans', Angela’s fathers, death.
"He had got slight respiratory conditions, nothing life threatening, but even he didn't realise how much it would get him", said Mrs Buttrick. "He saw Darren go through it but Darren's symptoms were just so different you couldn't have compared the two, they were completely different.”
"Seeing my father-in-law brought back some awful memories," Mr Buttrick added. "I probably didn't realise how bad I was back in March, it was so upsetting seeing him trying to fight to live."
Mr Morgans' granddaughter, Maia, paid tribute to her grandfather. "He was lovely, so friendly, so nice, so funny, so handsome, my best friend, and Covid shouldn't have taken him so soon," she said. "It was horrible. People need to be careful. We didn't do anything for that to come to us, yet it still came twice".
Since making a full recovery, Mr Buttrick said he has been donating his blood to help research into coronavirus.
