Author Victoria Hislop tells of heartbreaking experience of mum's death in care home

10 July 2020, 20:04

Author Victoria Hislop tells Rachel Johnson

Author Victoria Hislop has told for the first time of her heartbreaking experience of her mother dying in a care home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking with LBC's Rachel Johnson, Victoria said her mother lived in a "fantastic" home, where the staff were "devoted" to their residents.

But like all care homes during the Covid-19 outbreak, her mother's had to close its doors to family members, depriving them of a final goodbye.

Tragically, Victoria was one of those families.

"My mother was only at the early stages of dementia," she told Rachel.

"But she was utterly confused by this and I had my last visit with her on the 9 March, and she knew something was up, but not what it was.

"The following day all visitors were banned. But my sister who lived very close by actually insisted on going to see her a few days lets, she just had some instinct, that all this was essentially catastrophic for my mother.

"She was allowed in, I have no idea what she said to the women who looked after my mother but she was allowed in".

Victoria's sister was permitted an hour with their dying mum, who sadly passed away the following morning.

"I think that my mother felt that being deprived of all the socialising with the other people in the home, which was very important to her, and the sudden gap of visiting daughters was something she couldn't deal with," Victoria added.

"She was 92, but in retrospect she made a decision to go."

Listen to the full heartbreaking exchange above.