Hospital beds side by side for couple’s last days together
THIS is the touching picture of a couple whose beds were moved together by hospital staff so they could spend their final days together – after 67 years of marriage.
Beatrice Whitehead, 87, who has been battling bone cancer for six years, has refused further treatment and will now spend her last days at the side of her childhood sweetheart Bert Whitehead, 90.
After the great-grandmother was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital, Lancashire, four weeks ago, her husband, a former bathroom delivery driver, was also admitted with a chest and water infection.
Staff put hospital protocols aside to move the two beds together so the couple can celebrate their lives and even enjoy a glass of prosecco. Before they were reunited, Mr Whitehead had to be taken in a wheelchair to see his wife on another ward.
Daughter Suzanne Hall, 52, said: ‘I can’t thank hospital staff enough for putting them together like this and for allowing them to be on the same ward. The staff have been incredible. It’s made this heartbreaking situation so much more bearable for our family.’
The couple, from Farnworth, Manchester, met when former tailor Mrs Whitehead was just 15 and Mr Whitehead was 17. They have four children, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Mrs Hall added: ‘They have been together forever and we’ve all had a wonderful life. Mum has been struggling with this cancer for six years and she’s had enough.
‘When she was offered a further round of treatment, she declined but when she went into hospital, my dad started going downhill.
‘You could tell he couldn’t cope without her. It’s right the two of them should be together – she only has a few more days to live.’
Son-in-law Stephen Hall said: ‘When they were put together Bert just gave the biggest smile, it was a really touching moment.’