Covid Wall Of Agony And Loss That Puts Johnson To Shame

ONE year ago, Becky Kummer’s 77-year-old father Peter was fighting for his life behind closed hospital doors.

“Mum was completely alone in her house, knowing her husband was dying in a hospital within walking distance, but not allowed to visit him,” says Becky. “Can you imagine that? I can hardly bear to think of it.”

At the time, Covid was claiming 1,000 lives a day. Not since the Second World War had we faced such staggering death tolls. Becky and her mum were locked down inside separate homes in London, united in grief yet unable to comfort each other in person.

Worse still, they were forbidden from visiting Peter even as his life hung in the balance. “A nurse let him borrow her mobile to make two goodbye phone calls. And that was it. No more contact” says Becky.

As her father deteriorated, a kind junior doctor called Cathy promised she would hold his hand as he died.

She offered to pass on a final message from his wife – and would whisper those precious words as Peter took his final breaths.

Yet Becky remains haunted: “We should have been there, making sure he knew how much we loved him.”