Husband’s life was cut short
ThE widow of a man who died last year after his cancer treatment was delayed due to the pandemic believes his life was unfairly cut short.
Malachy Watkins, 73, was first diagnosed with lung cancer in December 2018 and after six weeks of chemotherapy doctors told him the tumour had shrunk.
After a check-up last February, he found out the tumour was growing again but his treatment was postponed for three months.
The grandfather from Stevenage, hertfordshire, started chemotherapy and immunotherapy at Lister hospital in the town in May but died on September 25.
he began to have heart problems as a result of the treatment and fluid had built up in his lungs so doctors said it had to stop. Sheila Watkins, 72, his wife of 53 years, said: ‘I feel angry and it’s so wrong that people are being forced to wait for treatment. We could have had longer together if his treatment started earlier and the quality of his life may have been better.
‘his life was cut short, but the hospital is not going to admit that. They left us in limbo.’
Mr and Mrs Watkins met as teenagers and got married in 1967. Their son Craig, 43, said: ‘If the treatment was started then [last February] I think he would still be with us now.’ Both their children were not allowed to see their father until Mr Watkins’s final moments.
nick Carver, of the nhS trust which runs Lister hospital, said: ‘We offer sincere condolences to Mr Watkins’s loved ones at this incredibly sad time.’