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A family devastated by the death of a mother and her two children from Covid-19 has spoken out after being attacked by trolls who said it was a hoax.
Grandmother Gladys Lewis, 74, of Pentre, Rhondda, died in the early morning hours of Thursday, October 29 at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital. His son Dean, 44, a father of three, died at his home in Treorchy the next day.
On Monday, younger brother Darren, 42, died after intensive care treatment at Royal Glamorgan Hospital.
All three had tested positive for coronavirus before they died and their death certificates indicate that Covid-19 is the cause.
(Image: The Lewis Family)
The local community that has joined the devastated family has raised over £ 10,000 but have said that since the deaths, they have also been targeted by people on social media claiming that Covid-19 is a hoax.
Gladys’s husband, David, 81, told Channel 4 that people needed to “believe this is real.”
In an emotional interview, his daughter Debbie Mountjoy added: “They want to spend a couple of minutes with me, my dad, Claire (Dean’s wife), Claire’s children and my children to see the devastation we are going through as a family.
“Spend five minutes with us and they’ll know it’s real.
“Please listen to what the government says and follow the rules.
“Hug your family and take care of it.”
They described how the coronavirus “had just swept through the family,” and 13 family members tested positive for the virus.
Darren, who had Down syndrome, hadn’t been out of the house since February other than to keep appointments at the hospital, and Gladys, who suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emphysema, had also been protecting herself.
Dean only goes out once a week to shop for his parents.
“Anyway, we were scared of the virus,” Ms Mountjoy told Channel 4 News.
“But now we are absolutely terrified and I’m so scared to lose all three that I’m going to lose my dad or someone else.”
Ms. Lewis developed symptoms of the virus about a week before her death and was admitted to the hospital on October 25.
Dean Lewis tested positive after his mother was admitted to the hospital and paramedics administered steroids and antibiotics on October 26.
His wife Claire Lewis said in the Channel 4 News interview: “As the week went on, he seemed to be improving.
“We were talking at 3 am. I asked him if he was okay, he said yes. I woke up at 9:30 a.m. M. And he didn’t answer. “
Ms. Mountjoy and Claire Lewis gave CPR for 20 minutes until paramedics arrived, but Dean was pronounced dead shortly thereafter, on October 30.
(Image: The Lewis Family)
Darren Lewis was admitted to Royal Glamorgan Hospital after telling his father that he was unwell and was later transferred to the intensive care unit.
“He was fine and we thought he was going to get by and then later that night, he was gone,” Lewis said.
The family was unable to be with Darren due to the positive test result for Covid-19 and paid tribute to the hospital staff for their “absolutely incredible” care.
“The only way we could see or talk to Darren was through FaceTime and they made it happen every day that he was there and we can’t thank them enough for that,” Ms. Mountjoy said.
“When Darren passed by, we were able to make a phone call to say goodbye.
“They put the phone to his ear so we could tell him that we love him and that he was so strong and we were proud of him.”
Mr. Lewis described his wife as “a wonderful woman” who was a devoted mother, a grandmother of 13, and a great-grandmother of four.
Her daughter said that Ms. Lewis was “the best mother and grandmother anyone could ask for.”
Claire Lewis recounted how Dean had a “heart of gold”, was a “true friend” to the people, and adored his family.
Darren was described as “the most adorable happy man” by his sister, Mrs. Mountjoy.
All three funerals will be held in the same church, with the coffins brought the night before when the family can visit them to say goodbye.
“We wanted them together to be at each other’s funerals,” Ms. Mountjoy said.
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The local community has rallied around the devastated family, raising over £ 10,100 for the family to help finance the cost of the funerals.
Fundraiser Alison from Treorchy said: “As one of Debbie’s friends, there was no question that they needed financial and emotional help from our community.
“This is a nightmare thing, it’s incomprehensible what happened. Knowing how much fundraising the family has done over the years, it was fine that we came together for them.
“The community is aware of their charitable ways and that shows the amount of help we are receiving right now.
“We have several raffles and the GoFundMe page has exceeded the target and continues to accumulate daily. I just want this family to have as much money as possible to support them with all three funerals and use the rest for whatever they may need.”
If you want to donate and help the family you can do so by donating here .
Donations at all three funerals will be in aid of the Royal Glamorgan Hospital.
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