My man beat cancer but died from coronavirus he got waiting 8 hours in A&E – I couldn’t go to his funeral
Dad-of-one Patrick Tighe, 45, died on March 27, a week after arriving in hospital.
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On first arrival - where he was being treated for a chest infection caused by his chemotherapy - he was swabbed for coronavirus, and it came back negative.
But just days later another test tested positive and - on dialysis and in a coma - he died.
His wife Louise, 46, told how he was buried with just an undertaker present because both her and their son Matthew, 22, suffer underlying health issues and other family members live further afield including his mum in Cyprus.
“Patrick was wonderful,” his wife Louise, 46, said. “It upsets me that I couldn't be with him in his final hours."
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She continued: “The hospital could have rung me and I would have got up there, even if it was for the last 10 minutes of his life.
“I could have been there in the gear and holding his hand but it was on lockdown so nobody was allowed on the wards at all.
“Then, of course, I was not allowed to be in a chapel of rest.
“I was not at the funeral and it has absolutely ripped me apart. It’s a lot to accept.”
She told how Patrick, who was diagnosed with oesophagal cancer in 2017, was seven months into remission when he died.
“On September 12 last year we were told his cancer treatment had been successful - with a warning it could return,” she said. “So, we were basically living day by day and doing things as a family because we just didn't know what was round the corner.
“The doctor said they didn’t know if it could be back next week or next year.”
The family moved on with their life and were enjoying their time together.
But in early-March he fell ill with a chest infection caused by chemotherapy, went to Telford’s Princess Royal’s accident and emergency department for several hours and was discharged.
Self-isolating at home, he got worse.
“On March 20 he started to go downhill with his breathing again and was taken to hospital where the doctors swabbed him for coronavirus and it was clear,” Louise explained.
“They said it was an infection in his lungs which was pneumonia and it was all to do with the chemotherapy.
“He spent around eight hours in A&E then he went on to a ward and it was two days after that he was put into a coma in intensive care to help him with his lungs.”
There, a second coronavirus test came back positive, suggesting he had contracted it while in hospital.
Louise believes he picked it up while in A&E, although she is not angry at the doctors and nurses who she said were wonderful.
Patrick died from coronavirus, linked to his underlying health issues, on March 27.
Louise explained: “They carried out a heart echo and showed it was in distress and then in early hours of the morning they informed me that he wasn't going to make it. By 6.15am he had gone.”
“Patrick was left for a long time in A&E and with his underlying health issues, that should have not happened.
“But I understand the hospitals are under enormous pressure so I am not angry with them but the people who staff them go without vital PPE equipment.
“I know the people who looked after Patrick really cared.
Louise, who does not work because of her health problems, also wants people to follow government advice and not go out.
I have lost my soulmate. My heart has been ripped out. Patrick was cremated alone without any of the family but the undertaker.
Louise Tighe
“I have lost my soulmate,” she said. “My heart has been ripped out.
“Patrick was cremated alone without any of the family but the undertaker.
“But he stayed with him so in my head I knew he wasn't alone.
“And still people are not listening to what the government to say about staying in.
“They need to take a good hard look at themselves and help the NHS out.
“I’m sitting looking out my window and there’s groups of people going past, laughing and skateboarding.
“And I haven’t got my husband.”
A spokesman for The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) said: “Our thoughts and condolences are with the family and friends of Mr Tighe at this very difficult and distressing time.”
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