Couple hold hands as they both die of coronavirus within an hour of each other

In a heartbreaking incident, a couple, who were married for 53 years, breathed their last on the same day, as they died due to complications which resulted from the novel coronavirus infection.

The couple from USA’s Texas, 80-year-old Betty Tarpley and 79-year-old Curtis Tarpley, died on June 18 less than an hour of each other with their hands held during their last moments together. The couple’s son Tim Tarpley reportedly told a news agency that Betty was first taken to the hospital after she developed symptoms of the virus, two days after which Curtis was also admitted to the hospital with symptoms. Betty apparently called Tim and his sister to let them know that she was at peace with dying as her condition was beginning to deteriorate. When Curtis heard the news of Betty’s declining health, his condition began to worsen as well. “I just screamed, ‘No!’ I was like, ‘I’ve got too much, too many other things to do in this life that I want to show you, and I’m not ready.’ I really feel like he (Curtis) was fighting because he was supposed to and once he knew she wasn’t gonna make it, then he was okay with, you know, taking it to the house. I think he fought because he thought the team needed him, but he was also tired and he was in pain,” Tim Tarpley informed the news agency.

Even though Betty and Curtis received treatment in two different rooms, they were placed together in the comfort care, as an ICU nurse, identified as Blake Throne, did his best to make that happen. “It felt like the right thing to do was to get them together. I started inquiring about if it was even possible and then I started shaking the tree to try to get it done,” Blake Throne mentioned in his statement with the news agency.

20 minutes after the two of them were placed together in the comfort care, Betty passed away. Curtis also breathed his last just 45 minutes after. Even though they couldn’t speak to each other in their final moments together, their son believes that they were still able to comfort each other. “I honestly think they were so incapacitated that all they could do was talk with their souls or something, a special unspoken language. They obviously knew each other well enough that they could communicate without words,” he reportedly said.