A bereaved dad is pleading with people to stick to the coronavirus lockdown rules after sharing the horror of losing his wife to a serious lung condition.
Kenneth McDonald lost his wife Vivienne three years ago from pulmonary fibrosis, only 18 months after the birth of their son Jacob.
However Kenneth, from Wellbank, says the symptoms of severe Covid-19 and pulmonary fibrosis can be very similar, and said some who recover from the virus can even go on to develop pulmonary fibrosis because of scarring in the lungs.
He is now urging people to stay at home as he says he knows first-hand how hard it is to watch someone deteriorate on oxygen and struggle to breathe.
Kenneth, who is now bringing up his four-year-old son alone, said: “Covid-19 is no laughing matter, it really isn’t.
“I know first-hand what it is like to see someone you love struggling to breathe and having no control over it.
“My wife had pulmonary fibrosis and she was on oxygen, she got pneumonia, had liver and kidney failure and shingles and was struggling to breathe.
“She died at home in her sleep and they reckon it was heart failure because her lungs were struggling so much.
“Vivienne was only 32 and we had an 18-month-old son.
“People are now finding after they are cured of Covid-19 their lungs have not fully recovered and they go onto have pulmonary fibrosis on the back of that.
“The thing with pulmonary fibrosis, unless you get a lung transplant, it is a progressive condition with no cure whatsoever.
“There is no ‘get out of jail free card’ because you won’t improve.
“I watched my wife fritter away and I would not wish that on anyone, it is horrible to see someone struggling to breathe.
“On top of that in the third week of the first lockdown my uncle got Covid-19 and lost his life and my cousins had to say goodbye to him on an iPad.
“I can just imagine how difficult that would have been to see him in intensive care, knowing he will pass away, and only getting to say goodbye to him on an iPad.”
Kenneth said the emotional impact on those left behind could be almost as devastating as the conditions themselves.
He added: “I am not ashamed to admit it but psychologically I lost the plot with my mental health and had a few suicide attempts because of seeing my wife on oxygen and was on anti-depressants.
“It can destroy families but some people seem oblivious to what is happening and are saying coronavirus is fake so they are not adhering to social distancing.
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“That terrifies me.
“When you see it all on the TV it really hits too close to home when people are out there carrying on as normal.
“Stick to social distancing because you never know when it will hit your family and how close to home it can be.
“People with no underlying health conditions are not wearing masks because they think it will be fine and it won’t happen to them.
“If it helps save someone’s life, then I am happy to stay at home.
“At Christmas for example we were allowed to have my older son over for dinner.
“Two days later we got the phone call to say he had tested positive for Covid-19 and that terrified me – that was the biggest mistake I had made even though we thought we would be safe.
“That just goes to show you it doesn’t matter how careful you are.
“I can’t risk it, it is too dangerous a disease and far too contagious.”
Joseph Carter, head of Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation Scotland, said: “It is crucial that people continue to follow social distancing and lockdown restrictions.
“Not only will this keep them and their families safe, but it will also help to protect the 80,000 people in Scotland with a lung condition who are currently on the shielding list.
“Anyone who lives with a lung condition knows how terrible it is to have difficulty breathing and so it is vitally important we take all the appropriate steps to ensure we don’t spread Covid-19 and protect the vulnerable.”
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