Covid in Scotland: Family warning after 45-year-old dies of Covid
- Published
When Stephen Stewart fell ill with Covid-19 in January, the 45-year-old was expected to make a full recovery.
His death in February shattered those closest to him and left his wife, Heather, alone for the first time in her adult life.
As lockdown restrictions begin to ease, she wants to warn people about the devastating consequences it can have, even on the relatively young.
"The virus hasn't gone away, it will be around for a long time," she said.
"You might think you're invincible but you might be sitting next to someone in a queue, at a cinema or restaurant and they might be vulnerable.
"Stephen didn't think of himself as vulnerable, we didn't think of him as vulnerable, but it has devastated us."
The couple, from Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, met at a youth club when they were teenagers and had been married for 25 years.
"I've never been an adult on my own, we grew up together," Mrs Stewart told BBC Scotland.
Stephen and Heather have been together since they were teenagers
Mr Stewart had two stents fitted in his heart a couple of years ago after experiencing chest pains, but Mrs Stewart said they didn't consider him to be at risk.
She believes he picked up the virus while at work for concrete manufacturer FP McCann.
When he started feeling unwell in mid-January, he got a test on the way home from work in Uddingston and then went straight to bed.
Road to recovery
Over the next few days, Mr Stewart, his wife and their 16-year-old child tested positive for Covid-19.
A little over a week later he was taken to University Hospital Wishaw in an ambulance after an oximeter found his oxygen levels were at 71% - normally it should be 95-100%.
He spent a week in ICU before being moved to a high dependency unit and eventually a ward where he started to work on his recovery with physiotherapists.
Mr Stewart appeared to be on the road to recovery but on 14 February his wife received a call from the hospital telling her he had deteriorated.
He was being sent back to ICU and diagnosed with Covid pneumonia.
The couple were married for 25 years
Two days later his family got a "quick, two-minute" video chat with him before he was put on a ventilator.
"We told him we love you and he mouthed back 'I love you' and he made his hands into little heart," Mrs Stewart said.
However, his organs failed and he slipped away with his wife by his side on 19 February.
His family have been left devastated.
"We followed the rules, even at Christmas we didn't see anyone," Mrs Stewart said.
"We made a doorstep drop-off with presents. I didn't go into anyone's house even when I was arranging the funeral."
She urged people to take care when they are out and about to prevent any potential spread of the virus.
"A lot of people still don't think it's anything more than flu. A lot of people think 'I'm young, it won't affect me, I'll not get it bad'. Stephen was 45."
Stephen was a keen fisherman in his spare time
How many younger people have died with Covid in Scotland?
Mr Stewart is one of more than 10,000 people to have died with coronavirus in Scotland since the beginning of the pandemic.
Most of those who fell victim to the disease were aged over 75 but the virus was also listed on the death certificates of 87 people younger than 45.
Although young people are less like to die from the virus, medics reported seeing more younger people in hospital with Covid during the second wave.
They are also at risk of long Covid - one study reported that women aged under 50 had worse Long Covid outcomes than men and older people.
