Sister of mother-of-five Covid victim urges others not to downplay virus
8 February 2021, 14:26 | Updated: 8 February 2021, 15:09
Sister of Covid victim urges people not to downplay seriousness of the virus
The sister of a mother-of-five who died after testing positive for Covid, despite having no underlying health conditions, has urged people not to downplay the dangers of the virus.
Karen Hobbs, from Cardiff, was 40 years old when she died in hospital last month after contracting coronavirus.
While in an intensive care unit at the University Hospital of Wales, Karen kept her friends and family updated on her condition via Facebook posts, leaving a harrowing account of her final days.
In one, she wrote: “The lady in the bed opposite me has just died in front of me – from Covid. Poor, poor lady, the nurses worked so hard to get her back but she couldn’t be helped.
“Let that serve as a warning to anyone who still thinks it’s ok to break the rules.”
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It was through one of these posts that Karen’s sister, Rachel, found out that her condition was deteriorating.
“Being placed into an induced coma and warned that I might not make it, please everyone pray for me that I wake from this and come home to my kids. Terrified is not the word,” Karen wrote.
Rachel Hobbs told LBC that the family is "still in shock" following the mother-of-five's death.
“Karen was discharged on 27 December but she had to phone an ambulance to go back in [to hospital]," she said.
“We kept in touch and on 2 January I noticed on Facebook that she was going into an induced coma and was petrified because we couldn’t see her beforehand.
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“We went into see her the week before she passed away but we were told that it doesn't look good and that they [the doctors] thought she was going to die."
Rachel added: “She was struggling. She was in dialysis for her kidneys and had multiple organ failures.
“I think we’re just all in shock still. It doesn’t feel like it happened. It’s like I’m talking about someone else – it’s hard.”
A fundraiser has been set up to support Karen’s family, which you can find by clicking here.
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