Family mourns foster carer
FAMILY’S TRIBUTE TO FOSTER CARER TAKEN BY VIRUS
THE family of a long-serving foster carer who died after contracting Covid-19 have paid tribute to her as they mark the funeral which “would have been huge” if it had happened at any other time.
Kind and caring Anita Coulson passed away at Gateshead’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital last month after 24 days in critical care fighting the virus. The 56-year-old, from Winlaton, had battled kidney failure and a collapsed lung.
But as her family started to hope she might make it home, Anita developed pneumonia which affected her one good lung, and she died on April 21 with her husband and two children by her side.
Previously fit and healthy, Anita was due to become a grandma for the fourth time. She had been a foster carer for 14 years, and was still caring for two children when she fell ill.
Before that, Anita worked in home help for Gateshead Council for 20 years. Now Anita’s daughter Rebecca Martin, who also had coronavirus symptoms the week before her mum, has paid tribute to the woman who was “the heart of the family”.
“She had a big heart; she always helped everybody,” Rebecca said.
“She was a foster carer for such a long time, and she always wanted to help give kids the best start in life. She still had two foster children at the time who call her mam, they respected her that much.” Rebecca, 33, added: “She held everybody together.” Anita, who leaves behind grandchildren Ellie May, Joshua and Alfie, fell ill on Mother’s Day with a temperature.
Rebecca said: “We thought it was just a cold because I had been ill the previous week, but I felt better a couple of days later. Then she started having back pain. Her temperature was up and down, but she didn’t start to cough until a few days later. “That’s when I started to think it could be coronavirus, and I said we should phone 111 but she said ‘No, it’ll just take me longer to get over it because of my age.’”
Rebecca phoned for an ambulance on March 29 when her mum’s breathing started getting quicker.
“I went up to see her and she was very grey. Her lips were blue. She said she felt as if she was drowning.
“The paramedics gave her oxygen and said they thought it was Covid-19.
“I stood on the drive when they drove away and that was the last time I saw her.”
The family received a phone call two hours later to say Anita had been put into an induced coma and was on a ventilator.
The next day they were told that her kidneys had failed and one of her lungs had burst.
Although there was some improvement in her condition after a couple of days, it then deteriorated. Rebecca, her dad Andy, 61, and brother Trevor, 36, were able to go to the hospital to say goodbye to Anita in the early hours of April 21.
The family held Anita’s funeral on yesterday, with only the 10 permitted mourners present.
Rebecca said: “It’s hard because it would have been huge because of the life she’s had. But we are going to celebrate her life at a later date.”
Anita’s family are now raising money for the QE Hospital at gofundme.com. Search under ‘Anita Coulson.’
She was a foster carer for such a long time, and always wanted to give kids the best start in life
Rebecca Martin