Partthree:Lifechanging Heartbreak for our family

My son in law did not have his Covid jabs - he said he did not want to be poorly with the jabs as he looked after their autistic son whilst my daughter looked after their 2 daughters.

In December 2021 he was very unwell; his diabetes was out of control and because he smoked and could not get his breath, he was taken into hospital. The healthcare staff told him that they wanted to put him on a life support machine to give his body a chance to heal He refused, saying he wanted to see his wife and children.

When we went to see him I had to drive from Hebburn to Ashington where they lived, often in the middle of the night as we were told he wasn’t going to survive

When we did see him he was on an oxygen mask 24/7. I would say "come on Jason, fight" and he would say “I am!” We had fun times laughing at things we would say, then crying when we left. He used to sing the tune to Darth Vader, and ask for coffee - he had never drank coffee in his life!

On the day Jason died we were called once again in the early hours of the morning and were told they had taken him off the machines which were monitoring him My daughter who is only 37 was wailing it was awful

When we went in to see him he looked at my daughter and said "Nic, I love you" then didn’t say anything more. We sat with him for four hours, and then I said “Nicola let him go, let them take off his mask”. He was very agitated, so she did…he took two breaths then passed away. It was awful.

The doctors and nurses were wonderful.

Brenda Harrison Pathology Clinical Support and Screening