INSIDE EDITION - 'Til death do them part... A British elderly couple married for 67 years took that phrase literally when they had their hospital beds moved together to spend their final days in each other’s company.
"It's made this heartbreaking situation so much more bearable for our family,” their 52-year-old daughter Suzanne Hall told SWNS. "They have been together forever."
Beatrice Whitehead, 87, of Greater Manchester, was admitted into the Royal Bolton Hospital after battling bone cancer for the last six years. She recently declined further treatment, and is believed to only have days left to live.
Her husband, Bert Whitehead, 90, contracted a chest and water infection and was sent to the hospital, just weeks after she was admitted.
“When she went to the hospital, my dad started going downhill,” said Hall, who is one of their four children. “You could tell he couldn’t cope without her.”
They were sent to separate wards, and Bert had to be transported by wheelchair just to visit with his wife.
But, the hospital’s staff has now made accommodations to allow the pair, who started dating in their teens, to spend their final days side-by-side and hand-in-hand.
“We take every step possible to support patients and their relatives when they are approaching end of life,” a hospital spokesperson said. “We know how much the little things matter and we do all we can to get them right.”