Covid: Woman's vaccine plea after Nuneaton partner's death

Mr Mulcahy's funeral is to be held on Thursday, almost exactly a year after Ms Lea's mother's funeral

A woman whose unvaccinated partner died with Covid-19 is urging people to get jabbed to avoid the "tragedy" her family are going through.

Father-of-seven Martin Mulcahy from Nuneaton died earlier this month after putting off getting his jabs because he was busy, his partner Tracey Lea said.

She has now arranged for her family to be fully vaccinated.

Ms Lea, who lost her mother almost exactly a year ago to the virus, said she was "devastated" over his death.

Mr Mulcahy's funeral is to be held on Thursday, a year and a day after her mother's, who died before the vaccine rollout had begun.

Ms Lea said the family caught the virus in October and came out of isolation on 13 November, but her partner was admitted to hospital due to falling oxygen levels.

The couple planned to marry next year

He seemed to improve but then suffered a collapsed lung and "deteriorated very, very quickly".

"By the Friday evening he was put on a ventilator and I went to see him on the Saturday and they did say it wasn't looking very good, and on Sunday at about 6 o'clock, I had a phone call to say his health had deteriorated very, very quickly and the ventilator was going to be turned off that day."

She said the children were in shock as they expected him to come home but he "just got worse".

Ms Lea said her partner improved but then became more ill very quickly

Mr Mulcahy was not against vaccines, "he just never got round to doing it", she said.

"It's just life, we have three kids with autism too, so it's just trying to find the time to go and do it as well, but I wish we did it sooner rather than now, later."

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She described her partner, whom she planned to marry next year, as a family man who had a "heart of gold" as she urged people to get jabbed.

"I'd tell anyone to get the vaccine now. I wouldn't want anyone to go through the same tragedy that we've gone through now," she said.