More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A woman has spoken of her grief after her mother died of coronavirus.
Carole Foster was 77 and had been living in a care home in Rochester before she passed away yesterday morning.
She was taken to Medway Maritime Hospital, Gillingham, on Tuesday, after the care home called an ambulance.
Carole had been suffering from a high temperature and doctors called her daughter Tracey Bonfield to say they believed she had a chest infection but they also had tested her for Covid-19 as she was displaying symptoms.
Tracey, who lives in the home she shared with her mother in Walderslade, said: "By 4pm she went into a coma and I agreed to no ventilator because of her age."
Tracey was allowed to gown up and go and see her mother before she passed away.
The 53-year-old said: "I held my mum, she would have been 78 on Monday. I held her hand, I stroked her hair.
"The cough is unbelievable, they put her on full strength oxygen.
"To see someone in that state coughing and gasping for breath, it's awful.
"I was one of the lucky ones, I got to see my mum."
Carole suffered from short-term memory loss due to a stroke and also had mobility problems.
She had previously worked in the kitchen of the same care home she had been staying at, and was a mother to Tracey and her brother, from who she also had step-grandchildren.
Tracey added: "She had the mental capacity to make decisions. I discussed the coronavirus with her and said 'keep safe mum'.
"My mum was just lovely, she was very kind hearted. She was a very good listener.
"She had a nice sense of humour. My mum was the most lovely woman in the world; if she could do you a favour, she would do you a favour."
As of this morning, 34 people in Kent have died of the virus.
