The family of a 38-year-old man who died with Covid have spoken of their shock and devastation at his death.
Antony Ayiotis passed away less than a week after he was admitted to hospital with coronavirus.
The father-of-four, from Romford, didn't have the vaccine for Covid-19 because he believed he "didn't go out" enough to need it.
He did not have any underlying health conditions prior to catching Covid, and didn’t smoke or drink, My London report.
Antony's sister Stacie Ayiotis, 36, said: "We’re all absolutely heartbroken and devastated. It all happened so quickly.
"Every day he was in hospital he deteriorated. We didn’t for one minute think he would die like that."
His sudden death had put the benefits of the vaccine into stark perspective in the most tragic way possible, his sister said.
"His partner was double jabbed so thankfully didn’t catch it, but he went into hospital last week on the Saturday and died the following Friday.
"He had no underlying health conditions, he didn’t smoke and he didn’t drink – but he wasn’t jabbed.
"He said he didn’t need to be because he didn’t go out.
"It makes you realise how good the vaccine must be, his partner who was double jabbed didn’t get it and he ended up dying from it."
In order to celebrate Antony's life, Stacie and her family have appealed for donations on GoFundMe to put some money aside for his family and to pay for a funeral.
Stacie believes that while the family continues to adjust to the shock of losing him, it is important to pay their respects.
She said: "It’s all still so raw we’re dealing with the shock and the grief.
"Obviously nobody was prepared for it, we want to give him the best send-off we can, for him and his children.
"He was very close to all his children, the three boys he had with his ex-wife and his daughter with his current partner.
"It’ll be something for them to say goodbye properly."
If you would like to donate to Antony's fundraiser, you can do so via gofundme.com
