The husband of a nurse who died from coronavirus just days after giving birth by emergency caesarean section has spoken of his devastation.
Ernest Boateng lost his wife, Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong, in April just a week after she was admitted to hospital with the virus and just days after her daughter, also named Mary, was delivered.
Mr Boateng has revealed that his 28-year-old wife, a nurse at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, felt too “helpless” to ask her employers to stop working, even when she was warned by a union representative that it was not safe.
In an interview with the BBC, he said: “She was really worried to the point that anytime she returned back from work she had to start undressing from the doorstep.
“As soon as she entered the house, the first thing she would do is undress, leave the uniform there and walk straight to the washroom – to the bathroom to have a shower – before she could come down to socialise with the family or even talk to us.”
Following his wife's death, Mr Boateng said one of her union representatives told him that he had warned Ms Agyapong it was not safe for her to be working and “you need to get out of here”.
“But she said she couldn’t help it, she was helpless,” her husband said.
Ms Agyapong was pregnant with the couple’s second child when she was admitted to hospital.
“There is no amount of words that really can explain how I am feeling within,” Mr Boateng said.
“There are some times I just laugh and smile about the precious moments we had together for the past three-and-a-half years.
"There are times too, I could just be walking and just crying."
Holding his newborn baby in the interview, Mr Boateng said: "We all wish she was here to breastfeed her.
"We all wish she was here to see her grow and give her the best care that she would have loved to give to her children."
Describing his wife, Mr Boateng said: “She was very kind. Her heart was pure and she was very genuine.
“We know that men are not perfect, (not) everybody is perfect, but Mary was.
David Carter, chief executive of Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We were extremely saddened to lose Mary.
“She worked here for five years and was a highly-valued and loved member of our team, a fantastic nurse and a great example of what we stand for in this trust.
“We have carried out a full internal review into the circumstances surrounding her death and we are confident that she received the best possible care and support from the trust.
“We have sent our deepest condolences to Mr Boateng, and are currently working through a number of issues he has raised.”
The trust said Ms Agyapong had been on sick leave by the time the first coronavirus patient was admitted to her ward at Luton and Dunstable Hospital.
Mr Boateng said: “We find it a bit difficult to comprehend because even at the time Mary was off sick some of her colleagues were even self-isolating.”
