Widow of victim, 45: How dare virus take our Craig
FRIENDS of Britain’s youngest coronavirus victim yesterday warned the country not to underestimate the severity of the illness.
Craig Ruston, 45, died on Monday after developing a chest infection during a six-day struggle with the virus.
In a heart-rending tribute, the father-of-two’s family said that he was ‘not ready to go’ having spent almost two years fighting motor neurone disease.
His wife Sally wrote online that after being diagnosed in 2018 he started to describe how he planned to devote his life to raising awareness of the degenerative condition. ‘How dare this virus take this from Craig,’ she wrote.
British authorities do not reveal details about those who have died after testing positive for coronavirus, but Mr Ruston is the youngest victim to have been publicly named so far. Emma Moss, a friend of Mr Ruston who also suffers from motor neurone disease, chastised those ‘who think Covid-19 is just like the flu or that it’s OK to carry on as normal because “only” those that are vulnerable will die’.
Writing online, she said: ‘Yes, he had MND but he had a lot of time left with his girls, possibly years. Craig told me about the days when he couldn’t shake the thoughts of leaving them; he was tortured by it.
‘What Craig didn’t deserve was for his already limited future to have been taken so suddenly by Covid. This beautiful family had lots of precious time left.’
Motor neurone disease progressively damages parts of the nervous system, leading to muscle weakness. Mrs Ruston, from Kettering, Northamptonshire, paid tribute to her husband, as a ‘wonderfully kind and caring person’.
She wrote: ‘He loved the world. He absorbed the world. He was one of the most intelligent people I know that would absorb information and could somehow explain just about anything.’
Mrs Ruston described how her husband became ill on Tuesday of last week and went on to spend six days in isolation at Kettering General
Hospital. She said: ‘Craig’s chest infection was confirmed as Covid-19. How dare that take Craig who was already facing this, the most vile and evil of diseases.’
She said his ‘fight with MND was not ready to be over’, adding: ‘Craig was not ready to go.’
Having devoted his life to raising awareness of the disease, Mr Ruston had planned to donate his brain for scientific study after his death. But his wife said his coronavirus infection meant that this was no longer possible.
During a long career as a footwear designer, Mr Ruston worked for some of the UK’s leading brands, including Ben Sherman, Fred Perry and Hunter Boots.