We were shocked — it’s just not right

WHEN Ted McMahon died two months short of his diamond wedding anniversary, his three children — one of whom is a nurse — believed a stroke had killed him.

Yet his death certificate stated he had died from Covid-19, despite testing negative for the virus just four days before he passed away at Charnwood Oaks care home in Shepshed, Leics.

Retired road worker Mr McMahon, pictured with wife Anne, had four grandchildren and a great-grandchild. He was admitted to the nursing home with dementia in November 2019.

He died aged 84 on May 3 last year, six days after running a high temperature the home believed was Covid.

A test on April 30 came back as negative and his daughter Debbie McMahon, a nurse, put the high temperature down to an undetected stroke, according to his other daughter, Julie Perkins. Civil servant Mrs Perkins, 57, said: ‘Debbie spent a lot of time with him leading up to his death and she believes he was showing all the signs of having had a stroke.

‘ So we were extremely shocked when the GP wrote he’d died of the virus on his death certificate, despite the negative test result four days before he died. It’s just not right.’