My ‘healthy’ brother, 28, died alone in hospital of coronavirus – we don’t even know where his body is
A HEARTBROKEN sister told how her beloved little brother died alone in hospital of coronavirus, just hours after their mum found him collapsed on his bedroom floor.
Dean McKee, 28, from west London, died on Tuesday, after about eight days of suffering symptoms including fever and lethargy but no coughing. His heartbroken family don't know where his body is being held and have no idea when they will be able to hold his funeral.
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“I never expected him to die,” said exams officer Louisa, 40, in an exclusive interview with Fabulous. “Our brother, Richard, kept telling him to go to hospital but I didn’t. I thought he would be fine.
“Maybe I was just really, really naive.”
Louisa, breaking down as she spoke, described how before falling ill Dean had been carrying out long shifts in a care home near where he lived with mum Jayne Hill, 59, in Shepherd’s Bush.
Originally he worked coordinating activities like bingo in the home but as the corona crisis worsened he started looking after the elderly residents even more.
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“He had stepped in to become a carer in the crisis,” she explained. “I asked mum if he had PPE equipment and she said she thought he had a mask.
“She explained he was coming home very tired and not having food. That wasn’t like Dean. He was a big boy and loved to eat.
“But it was non-stop. He was exhausted.”
Louisa, who has three children and lives in Wandsworth, south west London, told how she, Richard, 41, and sister Jo, 35, all doted on Dean.
“He was the baby of the family,” she said. “When he was very little I was a teenager and I would take him out.
“He had nine nieces and nephews and would always step in to help, arriving at our homes at 7am to look after them. He was lovely and really caring.”
He wasn’t getting any worse - at least not externally although clearly the virus was killing him inside.
Louisa Smith
A keen poet who received money for performing his work and an avid Queens Park Rangers fan, around 12 days ago he became “incredibly fatigued”.
“He couldn’t walk two steps without becoming exhausted,” Louisa said. “We were all really worried as he was obviously very ill.
“He was so exhausted, had no energy to do anything and was totally wiped out.”
He took to bed but, as per government advice, didn’t go to hospital believing - because he was young with no underlying health conditions - he could recover on his own.
Louisa, who is isolating in her own home, called Dean daily to ask how he was feeling.
“He said he was the same everyday which I thought was good,” she said. “He wasn’t getting any worse - at least not externally although clearly the virus was killing him inside.
“We were more worried about our mum as she is diabetic and had been sent a letter telling her to isolate for three months as she was high risk.”
On Monday Louisa called her brother as usual and he said - once again - he felt the same. “It was a quick conversation and I just asked how he was and he said the same,” she said.
But in the evening, believed around to be 10pm, Jayne heard him crashing to the floor. He had collapsed.
“She called 999 and within half-an-hour an ambulance had arrived. Paramedics worked on him at home before taking him to hospital,” Louisa explained. “She desperately wanted to travel to hospital with him but wasn’t allowed.”
Dean was taken to Charing Cross Hospital in central London and the family aren’t entirely clear what happened next.
“Mum rang us all straight away,” Louisa explained. “I was in shock and couldn’t believe he was in hospital.
“My brother Richard called the hospital and they said to try him on his mobile so we can assume at that point he was alive and conscious, but he didn’t answer.
“Then, around 2am, he called again and asked straight out asked, ‘Is he still alive?’
“The hospital said they wouldn’t ordinarily tell people over the phone but since he had asked so directly they were going to be honest and said he had passed away.”
Richard walked straight to his mum’s home, reaching there shortly before the police who were also en route.
We still don’t know where his body is and when we get it we will not be able to have the funeral we would have wanted because of the government restrictions.
Louisa Smith
“I am so grateful he beat them,” Louisa said. “Because mum simply didn’t believe it. She couldn’t understand it. She didn’t accept it - how her youngest son could have been alive a few hours earlier, been taken off alone in an ambulance and then died.”
Because Jayne didn’t accept the news, she and Richard were allowed to see Dean’s body for just 10 minutes. They were forced to wear full protective gear.
“It was heartbreaking,” she said. “Mum was - we all are - devastated.
“I was so naive. I thought Dean would recover.
“He was so lovely.
“He would perform poetry at QPR and it has been astonishing how many people knew and loved him.
“I’m telling people what happened so they don’t dismiss their symptoms and do go to hospital.
“He deteriorated really quickly.
“We still don’t know where his body is and when we get it we will not be able to have the funeral we would have wanted because of the government restrictions.
“The entire situation is insane. Normally in these circumstances he wouldn’t have died. But if he had fallen ill we could have gone in an ambulance with him. We could have sat at his bedside and afterwards said goodbye.
“All of that has been taken away from us.
“I miss my brother so much. It breaks my heart.”
Dean's family are raising funds for his funeral. Donate .
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