VIDEO: "I still wake up at night with nightmares"
As part of our 'faces behind the figures' campaign we are sharing the stories of families across Wales who have lost loved ones during the pandemic.
Last updated 30th Sep 2021
Catherine Griffiths' dad Harold was 86 years old when he died in a care home from Covid-19 last November. She told us "My father had Alzheimer's, so he was forgetful, but he and I had great chats and and he was in robust physical good health, prior to this." Catherine is part of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group. 150 have now joined the campaign seeking a Wales-specific inquiry into the handling of the pandemic.
The group wrote to the First Minister Mark Drakeford over a month ago seeking talks. Welsh Government presently supports a UK-wide inquiry. The families of those who died after contracting Covid-19 whilst in hospital, care homes and other institutions are seeking answers to the questions that so far they claim have drawn blanks.
'What went wrong?'
Catherine says "We don't have any answers at all, like all the other families who are part of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group. We haven't got any answers, at all. The whole point of this campaign is to call for a Wales-specific independent inquiry, judge- led preferably. First Minister Mark Drakeford has agreed to meet with the families next Thursday. It's a step in the right direction, but he also said that he wouldn't have an independent. Wales inquiry and I believe we need one, health is a devolved issue in Wales, therefore it would completely delegitimize the very notion of devolved if we didn't have an independent inquiry.
"What we want is answers and understanding and explanations for some of the decisions made and how our beloved people died - that goes some way to achieving closure. I know that's a really popular word, but it works. And we do need closure. We need to understand why and how they managed to get this, when they were being cared for. The whole system needs to change so that people are protected if this happens again. "
Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru
'Taking its toll on our health'
Catherine became very anxious after the loss of her father and told us: "Saying goodbye to your father through a window with your brother on a WhatsApp phone inside. With your father reaching towards you, that is no way, that's no way for anyone to die and that's no way for children to say goodbye to their parents. I haven't been brilliantly well. I couldn't sleep for ages. Things are getting better, you know, as with I mean grief - it passes eventually and it's a journey we have to make. But to start the grief journey in that way. I still wake up at night with nightmares, seeing my father stretching out towards the window to reach us.