Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Family ‘stripped of last rights’ to bury beloved dad
A GRIEVING son claims his family were “stripped of their last rights” while burying his father because Covid-19 was on his death certificate.
Jonathan Mckittrick’s 62-year-old dad passed away at the Ulster Hospital on October 30 with his family by his side.
The East Belfast man said his dad John had suffered from chronic Obstructive pulmonary disease, and before his death, said the family were told his liver and kidneys were failing following a heart attack.
But Jonny said they never expected to see Covid-19 listed among his causes of death – which plunged the family into a “nightmare”.
He told the Daily Mirror: “It’s stripping people of their last rights to see their dead family members.
“This year has been a bit of an upside down year and it’s not very nice for people to have to experience that the final time [with a loved one].
“It’s been a bit nasty considering when you put down Covid you can’t have an open casket or anything.
“As soon as the body comes to the funeral home it is closed straight into the casket, so you can’t get dressed or anything. You can’t put anything you want into the coffin.
“It’s been a bit of a nightmare to be honest.”
The 27-year-old said his father was in “the army when he was a bit younger” then worked as “an ice-cream maker for Dale Farm”.
He added: “He [then] drove for a fresh food company for the most of his life. One of the things he loved doing most was driving.
“He was fantastic – a great dad, absolutely brilliant.
“He was very quiet but probably one of the nicest people you would ever have met. He would have done anything for anybody.”
But John was also plagued with ill health.
The reason, he says, John was admitted to Ulster Hospital on October 29 was because “he had a heart attack that morning”.
Jonny said: “After the heart attack they brought him in and put him into resuscitation.
“That’s when they found out his liver and his kidneys were failing and they said there was nothing they could do for him, which was fair enough.
“He was in a coma at the time and they turned off the breathing equipment. He was admitted on October 29, and he passed away the next day.
“He hasn’t been well for years so he had been taking tablets for the best part of 20 years for his back and his heart.”
Jonny said his family were by his father’s side as he died, which makes it all the more confusing “clinically suspected Covid-19” was on his death certificate.
Now he would like Covid-19 removed from his father’s death certificate.
He added: “I believe he died of general causes, which is what he was brought in for.”
A South Eastern Trust spokesman said: “Mr Mckittrick was ‘clinically suspected’, but not ‘laboratory confirmed’, as having Covid-19.
“A patient who is ‘clinically suspected’ of having Covid-19 displays the signs and symptoms of the virus, despite ‘negative’ swabs.
“Some patients with Covid-19 have ‘negative’ swabs.
“These are referred to as ‘false negative’ swabs. In these instances, the medical team diagnose the patient as ‘clinically suspected’ and the guidelines are applied accordingly, including at end of life.”