Coronavirus: Wolverhampton bride to dedicate wedding to late father

Stacey-Ann wants to dedicate her wedding to her father James

A bride-to-be said she will dedicate her wedding to dad, who died from coronavirus.

Stacey-Ann Small from Wolverhampton was due to walk down the aisle on 25 July with her father James, 72, who died last week.

"I just want to try and dedicate it to him as best we can," she said.

"I want to wear his wedding ring and the cufflinks we'd ordered for him have come through, so hopefully I can get them into my bouquet."

Ms Small and her fiancé Adam Roberts still do not know if the wedding can take place as planned but she said: "I want it to go ahead, my dad loved my fiancé, they got on so well."

The mother-of-three said her dad initially thought he "had a chill".

After three days of not eating or getting out of bed, they phoned an ambulance who said to call back if his breathing deteriorated, but it sounded like he had the virus.

"On the Tuesday night, he went to sleep and on Wednesday morning, he'd passed away," Ms Small, 34, said.

Stacey-Ann has been with her partner Adam for three years

"He'd got a sky-high temperature but that was it really, it was such a shock.

"I was speaking to him on the phone on the Tuesday night and I just never would have thought this would happen."

Ms Small said they have not been able to make funeral arrangements yet: "We're just waiting for the death certificate, but they have told us what will be on it, Covid-19."

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The wedding date and time has a further special meaning to the couple, "My partner has diabetes and he had sepsis and had to have his leg amputated.

"He went down [to surgery] on 25 July at half past two, and our church is booked for then, he came out the other side, but it was life or death."

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Ms Small said she saw her father every day, "he'd iron our washing, do shopping for us, he'd cut our grass, he just loved helping everybody."

"Please stay in, until you lose someone you don't realise how bad it is."