The son of an 88-year-old church choir singer, who died after contracting coronavirus, has told of his heartbreak that he could not be with his father in his “direst hour” due to strict rules surrounding the respiratory disease.
Darrell Blakeley, who contracted coronavirus at a restaurant after coming into contact with a skier returning from northern Italy, died from Covid-19 on Friday at North Manchester General Hospital.
Speaking to ITV News, Darrell Blakeley’s son Jonathan said his mask was “full of tears” as his father died in isolation.
He also told of the horror of enduring watching his father being wrapped in plastic and placed in an airtight coffin and immediately taken away upon his death.
Jonathan described coronavirus as “the cruelest disease” that he could “ever imagine” and told ITV News of his anguish of not being able to be there for his father due to strict isolation rules.
He said: “My father had looked after me all my life, he’s always been there for me, in his direst hour I couldn’t be there for him.
“The hospital were fantastic but I wasn’t allowed to visit him.”
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