Nurse and parents will have joint funeral after Covid-19 kills all three
A NURSE who died after contracting coronavirus is to be laid to rest alongside his parents – who also lost their battles with the deadly disease.
Keith Dunnington, 54, died in April and within less than two weeks Covid-19 had also claimed the lives of his devoted mother Lillian and father Maurice.
Last night a grieving relative said: “It’s important people realise the virus is deadly – it has wiped out a whole family.”
Keith was a staff nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead and had spent more than 30 years on the front line caring for patients.
Tragic
His family said he always “gave 200 per cent” to all he did.
They were still grieving for him when Lillian passed away last Friday at the age of 81.
She was holding hands with Maurice, 85, who had been brought to her bedside from his ward by hospital staff.
Maurice succumbed to Covid19 over the weekend.
Heartbroken relatives are now planning a triple funeral later this month – although currently just five will be able to attend.
Keith’s cousin Debbie Harvey said the tragic family were “really loved” and would be “greatly missed by all who knew them”.
Keith – dad to Ben, 21, and Olivia, 17 – trained to become a nurse in Birmingham.
Debbie, 55, said: “He looked after people so well and would stand up to the highest consultant if he thought his patient was in danger or needed help.”
Keith was a champion swimmer and had once acted as a football scout for Sunderland. Yvonne Ormston MBE, chief executive of Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, described him as a “popular and hard-working” member of the nursing team.
Keith’s father, a well-known figure in South Shields, had worked for Stagecoach, was a staunch British Legion supporter and a keen singer.
Debbie said her Uncle Maurice was “larger than life” while Auntie Lillian had a “generous, loving heart”.
The funeral will take place on May 16 in South Shields.