A couple who were married for 53 years died of coronavirus just an hour apart while holding hands.
Betty and Curtis Tarpley were childhood sweethearts - they went to the same high school, got married and raised two children together.
But the couple died from coronavirus within an hour of each other in a Texas hospital, their devastated son Tim told CNN.
They spent their last moments together on June 18 holding hands, he added.
Betty, 80, was admitted to hospital on June 9 after she fell ill, followed by 79-year-old Curtis who was admitted on June 11.
At first Curtis appeared to be doing well and nurses wheeled him in to Betty's unit so they could be together, reports said.
But sadly Betty's condition declined and Tim said she even called him to say she was "ready to go".
He told CNN: "I just screamed 'No!' I was like, 'I've got too much, too many other things to do in this life that I want to show you, and I'm not ready.'"
Tim wanted to thank a nurse named Blake who realised the pair should be together at the end.
"He really went out of his way to get my mom moved from her room to his room," he said.
"And then he just placed their hands, near each other, and next thing we know they grabbed each other’s hands."
"And that’s how they went," Tim added.
