Dunstable Covid widower writes book about beloved wife

John and Doreen Hunt were married on 4 May 1968, a year after they met, aged 20

A widower who lost his wife of 51 years to coronavirus just a matter of weeks after it arrived in the UK has written a book about their life together.

John Hunt, 74, from Bedfordshire, said wife Doreen, 72, died just four days after becoming unwell in March 2020.

He said coping with the "totally unexpected and unbelievable" situation inspired him to create a book, as he had always wanted to be a writer.

Mr Hunt has urged anyone who has yet to get a vaccine to do so.

His book, This Is Not A Good Table, is being sold online and is based on their lives after meeting aged 19 in 1967, and marrying a year later.

"She was my life, it was love at first sight for me," said Mr Hunt, from Dunstable.

John said he copes with his loss by talking to people about Doreen and their wonderful life together

The title refers to a phrase they would say to each other to mean something was a major or a minor disaster.

"When I lost Doreen it was not a good table," he said.

His writing started with a poem and it went from there, the great grandfather said.

"I wanted to let everyone know what a lovely person she was and show what happens to 50% of the world's population, in couples, who are left without their loved one at some stage.

"It's the toughest thing I've ever known."

The death of John's wife inspired him to write and sparked a new interest for him

Mrs Hunt, who had a kidney problem, died at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital on 22 March 2020, aged 72, before a vaccination had been developed.

Pleading for people to get jabbed, he said: "Get vaccinated - complacency is the biggest killer.

"You need to do it to protect yourself and your family."

The couple spent £8 on a week's holiday at Highfield holiday park in Clacton, Essex, in the 1970s

"Doreen always said I wouldn't last more than two weeks without her, but I've managed to prove her wrong.

"It's still hard when you realise she's not here any more.

"Writing has become my life now, I can't stop."