Husband devastated after 'happy and strong' wife of thirty years dies with coronavirus
A devastated husband has paid tribute to his wife of 30 years who died with coronavirus aged 54.
Helen Hurley, described as a ''happy and strong'' woman who doted on her four grandchildren, lost her life on December 30 after being admitted to Prince Charlies Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil two days earlier.
Her husband Rob Hurley, along with their three children Kyle, Carly and Caitlin, were able to say their goodbyes in person thanks to intensive care staff who the family said ''bent over backwards'' to make her final moments comfortable.
''They moved my wife into a spare room so the four of us could be allowed in together. I had to stay strong for my kids whose hearts were breaking,'' said Rob.
''A lot of people haven't been able to say their goodbyes face-to-face, so I felt really privileged to be given that opportunity and to hold her hand while she passed away.
''It was truly horrendous and it still hasn't sunk in.''
Rob, from Aberfan, said Helen went downhill rapidly around 10 days after first experiencing symptoms of the virus, including severe shortness of breath.
''Things just went from bad to worse. It got to the point where I took her to the toilet, she had a coughing bout and then fainted,'' Rob recalled.
''She came back around, I took her to the bedroom and said to her 'look, you need an ambulance'. She was terrified of going into hospital.''
A paramedic turned up first to give Helen, a former chef at a special needs school, additional oxygen before an ambulance arrived around an hour-and-a-half later to take her to Prince Charles Hospital.
Rob added: "Ward 3 and ward 4 were tremendous. Whenever I called them up to ask how she was it was never any trouble for them, even though I knew they were incredibly busy. I even spoke to Helen on the phone but she could only talk very faintly as she had her oxygen mask on.
"I told her 'listen, don't talk any more. Just conserve your energy now'."
A day later, doctors told Rob that Helen would need to be transferred to intensive care if they had any chance of keeping her alive.
"I said to Helen 'they have to do what's best for you. They have to go down that road'. She accepted it, we said 'I love you' to one another and those were the last words I ever said to her."
Despite their best efforts, an ICU consultant told the family to come into the hospital to be with Helen in the hours before she passed away.
"We went into a little room. A nurse on duty called Rachel, who was superb, stayed with us many hours after her own shift was meant to have finished. She'd already worked a 12-hour shift.
"A doctor came in and told us that they had 'chucked the kitchen sink' at my wife to try and save her but there was nothing more they could do."
Following her death, a GoFundMe page was set up for Helen to raise money for staff on wards 3 and 4 of Prince Charles Hospital. And since January 1, more than £3,600 has been donated from family, friends and complete strangers.
"It's just overwhelming. I knew I had friends but I didn't realise how many until this was set up," Rob added.
Rob said Helen loved singing, going on holidays and looking after her four grandchildren.
"I have been with Helen for 37 years and we'd just celebrated our 30th anniversary last September," he said.
"She suffered with arthritis in her knees but she just kept going all the time with a smile on her face. She never gave up."
After researching more about coronavirus, Rob said he wished he knew more about levels of oxygen saturation in the blood.
"My sister-in-law bought this Sats machine, put it on her finger and that's when we realised hers were really low. It's so important for people to know about Sats.
"If you have symptoms and your Sats are low you need to contact a doctor without delay. We were late getting the help she needed."
Helen's funeral is taking place on Thursday, January 21 with a very limited congregation due to the current lockdown restrictions.
"We're a very close family and she had a lot of friends. We are having a service outside the house and we're going to play five of her favourite songs and give her the best send-off we can."
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