Woman home after care home separation from husband

Michelle and John Davies have been married for 38 years

A woman separated from her husband due to coronavirus restrictions when she was in a care home has returned home.

Michelle Davies suffered brain damage after a stroke in 2018. She spent nearly a year in hospital before being transferred to a care home.

The pandemic meant she could not have the visits that her husband, who started legal proceedings, wanted.

John Davies said they should have had "more special moments" and it had been a "challenging" period.

Mrs Davies returned home for the first time in three years earlier this week, after her husband adapted the house in Leigh, Greater Manchester.

"She's got very, very little speech - just odd words - and her right arm and right leg have next to no movement," Mr Davies said.

"She's either in bed or in a wheelchair - she can't stand or walk."

Before the pandemic, Mr Davies, a former professor at the University of Salford, would visit his wife daily.

"When people are recovering, having stimulation is critically important," he said. "My view is that the bulk of recuperation is from the interaction."

After lockdown in March 2020, the couple, who have been married for 38 years, communicated via scheduled video calls with occasional window or socially-distanced visits.

"It was great to be in her company but to not have any contact with her was just torture," Mr Davies said.

"Imagine yourself sitting two metres away from the person you love most in the world and you can't hold her hand."

In December, he was allowed to visit her when they "held hands wearing latex gloves".

But a second national lockdown prevented further visits until March, when they hugged for the first time since the pandemic.

Mr Davies said his mother-in-law died while lockdown rules were in place, "having never touched her only daughter Michelle for a year".

Since Mrs Davies' return, he said they had been "laughing at episodes of Benidorm", adding: "We should have had more special moments like that."