Victory! Couple married for 67 years can stay together thanks to
A DEVOTED couple who faced being torn apart after 67 years WON’T be separated – in a Sunday People victory.
Frank Springett, 91, and wife Mary, 86, were caught up in a funding row over their care.
But after we highlighted their plight, the couple’s family say the council has done a U-turn.
Daughter Joanne Downes, 57, said: “The relief I felt when social services agreed with us was amazing.
“The situation had been so worrying. I could not sleep worrying about them, I would never have given up on them.”
Frank and Mary have been together since meeting at an ice rink in 1949. They wed a couple of years later and renewed their vows in May – the day Prince Harry wed Meghan Markle.
The couple have health problems but are still living happily together in the Cedar Lodge Care Home in Henley-in-arden, Warwickshire.
Mary suffers from severe Alzheimer’s while Frank has arthritis, the muscle stiffness condition polymyalgia rheumatica and is almost totally deaf. They sold their home for £156,000 to fund care bills of £8,000 a month. But their relatives were told Mary and Frank – who have been in care since March – could be sent to separate homes when their pot runs dry.
Now the family say Solihull Council has told them they will stand the cost when funds expire so the couple can stay together.
Granddaughter Jenna Farmer said: “We did it!”