The wife of a man who died from Covid-19 at Salisbury District Hospital is grieving two losses; the loss of her husband and that of his belongings.
John Page, 76, passed away in the Radnor Ward on Friday, January 22, two days after being taken to hospital.
When his step-son went in to collect his items on Saturday, January 23, the family found out they were gone.
“Everything he went in that night with is gone, as well as him, it’s awful,” his wife Eileen said.
She believes he would have left farewell messages to his family in his missing bag.
Staff have been looking for the items and have apologised for the loss.
The couple fell ill with coronavirus last month but as Eileen started to get better, John’s health deteriorated.
“He woke me up on Wednesday night and said ‘I can’t breathe, I need you to get me some help’.
“He couldn’t even walk to the ambulance, he was that weak. He was taken to ICU and put on a ventilator.
“I said to him ‘just put up with it for a while and then you can come home’ but obviously that never happened.”
During his brief stay at the hospital, John had been able to call Eileen with the help of staff, however, due to the illness and the ventilator, he was struggling to speak.
Among his personal belongings, which included toiletries, slippers and his wallet, were a Samsung S20 and a Samsung Tablet, which Eileen believes contain messages he left to her and his daughters before he died.
“Knowing John I know he would have left recordings for us, and we’re never going to hear them,” she said.
“When I was told his bag was gone I couldn’t believe it, I was so, so upset, even the staff were so upset about it, they said ‘we’re going to look everywhere’.”
However, despite their best efforts, John’s black and orange canvas bag, which Eileen says was put in a grey hospital bag, is still missing.
“Someone could have taken it by mistake or maybe the cleaners took it thinking it was rubbish, I don’t know.
“I’ve been offered compensation but I don’t want that, even my own insurance have offered me money but I don’t want it, I just want those two items back,” she said.
Before marrying, Eileen and John, a former buyer in the construction industry, had been friends for many years.
They started going out after their respective partners passed away and tied the knot six years ago.
John loved gardening and company.
“He would just give you anything you wanted, he was very, very kind and loved by everyone, a very gentle man,” Eileen said.
Both of them were due to receive their vaccine at City Hall today and had plans to go on holiday after the pandemic.
Judy Dyos, Director of Nursing at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We offer our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time.
“We’re very sorry for the loss of Mr Page’s personal belongings and have apologised directly to the family.”
Eileen is hoping anyone who has seen the bag, which also contained two chargers and a brown leather zip case, or taken it by accident, will get in touch.
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