'My last words to him were, 'I love you'' Heartbroken partner of man who died from coronavirus speaks of her grief
The partner of a man who died from coronavirus on the same day as his brother has spoken of her grief at losing him.
Nicola Mincher said, "we were supposed to grow old together... it just wasn't meant to be."
Ghulam Abbas, 59, and Raza Ghulam, 53, died on April 21st after contracting the virus. It was just three weeks after their father had passed away from an unrelated health condition.
Raza's partner, Nicola Mincher, said she and Raza started showing symptoms of coronavirus about six weeks ago. Raza's condition deteriorated and Nicola called an ambulance.
He was taken to the intensive care unit at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport where he was put into a coma. That same evening, Raza's father died.
A month later, his condition worsened and Nicola was called in. She told ITV News the last words to her husband were ''I love you.''
"Everyone loved him", she said.
"He had a heart of gold. He adored his boys and grandson. It's so cruel this disease. I cant even hug my boys. We were together for 38 years, we were supposed to grow old together, it wasn't just meant to be."
His brother Gulam Abbas, who was on a ventilator opposite him in the same intensive care unit, died later that day. He had fallen ill after burying their father.
Gulam's brother-in-law, Mubarak Ali, said although the deaths came as a big shock, the family had found some comfort in that the brothers died together.
''The brothers were close to each other. There's comfort they were called together, buried side by side. The cards and flowers are also a massive comfort, they're being missed by a lot of people,'' he said.
Both brothers and father will be fondly remembered. The family was well-known in the Pill area of Newport after running a newsagent's there for many years.
Nicola said, ''He'll never be forgotten, we'll talk about him, we'll laugh about him.''
There have been calls for an investigation into the high number of minority ethnic groups dying from coronavirus - both on the frontline and the general public.
The first three casualties on the NHS frontline in Wales were black or ethnic minority.
Last week, the Health Minister Vaughan Gething called for an "urgent investigation". He said a team from Welsh Government will be working with Public Health Wales to "gather evidence and data.''