"I'll be indebted to them forever", Liverpool Dad's tribute to Arrowe Park staff
John Gill lost his wife Katie to COVID less than two weeks ago
Last updated 26th Aug 2021
A Liverpool Dad whose wife passed away after catching COVID has paid tribute to the staff at Arrowe Park Hospital who looked after her in her final days.
31-year-old Mum of three Katie Gill, described by friends as a beacon of the Birkenhead community, lost her battle with the virus despite having no underlying health conditions with her lungs.
She caught COVID just a week before she was due to have her second vaccination.
"Genuine, caring people."
In a heartfelt interview, John told us he feels he'll forever be in the debt of the staff on the ICU at Arrowe Park who tried "everything they could" to get her through.
He said: "They didn't have to do that job, they're not forced to do it."
"They do it because they are genuine, caring people who want to help and they know exactly what COVID does."
"They see it day in, day out and they're still carrying themselves to work to take that risk that they could get infected."
"I was only there for a minuscule amount of time and I could see what they're living day in and day out."
"It's hard when you go there, the staff are depleted. You can see in their eyes that all aspects of hope are just being ripped from them when a patient goes in and doesn't recover."
John is now urging others not to be complacent about the risks of the virus and encouraging those who haven't had both doses not to put off getting their appointment."
"I've done everything I can to make sure that my kids don't go without another parent."
He said: "If you want to run the gauntlet you are taking a big risk. That risk can be reduced by the vaccine."
"When I was speaking to one of the ICU staff, he said, you need to get the second jab because we very rarely see people who've had both in here."
"We certainly haven't had anyone with a second jab that hasn't walked out of here yet."
"So on the Monday, true to my promise, I went straight to the walk-in centre and got my second one, it was really easy."
"It's not worth the risk for the sake of a few side effects which are few and between. You get a big list of side effects from any medication but the majority can be treated. With COVID there is no cure."
"I've had the second jab now and so I'm sure, at the back of my head that I've done everything I can to make sure that my kids don't go without another parent."
"Take extra pictures, build a scrapbook and do things that you've been putting off doing."
He's also asking us not to take our loved ones for granted. Katie and John have been together since the age of 16.
"It really is a sobering truth when you go to the ICU and you visit your wife and you see all sorts of people there with the virus."
"You're only allowed to visit when your partner is dying, you only go in just in case you've got to say goodbye."
"Every time I visited it was because I was told that she's going to probably die that night."
He said: "We used to compare ourselves to the old couple in the film UP because every time we'd save up for a holiday, we'd have to smash the jar to buy a washing machine etc..."
"Make sure you make the most of them, it's the little moments in life that matter most. Take extra pictures, build a scrapbook and do things that you've been putting off doing."
"All those little normal things that normal families do, but now for us, it wasn't meant to be."
A Gofundme page has been set up by those in the local community to help with funeral costs and to support the family.