The heartbroken Australian family of an Irish man who died three days after being diagnosed with coronavirus are urging people to stay at home and respect social distancing rules after her family was forced to say their goodbyes over FaceTime.
Sydney makeup artist Sandra Glynn, 49, is married to Dublin man Michael Glynn, 46, who’s father Michael, 78, passed away at St James’ Hospital in Dublin’s southwest inner city late last Thursday night.
‘The hospital has asked that we spread the message to self-isolate. Whilst he was in Ireland, the same applies here! We are unable to grieve with our friends and family here in Australia, let alone my husband fly home for the funeral,’ Sandra wrote on Instagram.
Michael, a father-of-six and popular taxi driver well known around Dublin, developed serious complications from a heart bypass surgery in December and had been recovering successfully in the intensive care and rehabilitation units at St James’ until last week.
Doctors were preparing to send him home on Monday, March 23 when his blood sugar dropped and he developed a cough, an early symptom of COVID-19. He tested positive for the virus less than 24 hours later.
Michael Glynn (left) lives in Sydney with his wife Sandra and their two daughters. He was forced to farewell his beloved father Michael (left) over FaceTime last week three days after he was diagnosed with coronavirus at a hospital in Dublin, Ireland
While doctors initially believed he had a mild case of the respiratory illness, Michael’s condition rapidly deteriorated over the next three days and he was placed on a ventilator to help him breathe.
‘He was on the ventilator when my husband had a two minute FaceTime conversation to ask him to keep fighting and say his final goodbye,’ Sandra told Daily Mail Australia.
Sandra, her husband and one of his five brothers who lives in the US were unable to return to Ireland to say goodbye to their beloved father, leaving the devastated family to grieve their loss from over 17,000 miles away.
‘His dying wish was for us not to come home. He said, ‘just light a candle for me’ – typical Irish man. Of course we would have been there in a heartbeat if we could,’ she said.
Ireland has recorded 2,910 COVID-19 infections and 54 deaths since its first case was reported on February 29.
Sydney makeup artist Sandra Glynn (right) and her husband Michael were unable to return to Ireland to say goodbye to their beloved father, leaving them to grieve their loss from over 17,000 miles away
Sandra’s sister-in-law Emily Glynn-Homan was supporting her mother Patricia at her father’s bedside when he passed away. They were the only family allowed to be there.
The life of popular Dublin taxi driver Michael Glynn will be celebrated by his family when they reunite in Ireland after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic
Ms Glynn-Homan shared her story on Instagram in the hope of saving at least one life after critical care nurses at St James’ told her that people were still refusing to take the virus seriously.
She urged parents to keep young children inside and adhere to strict social distancing measures implemented by the government, telling readers the heartbreaking reality which faces the family’s of those losing the battle to COVID-19.
‘When you visit a patient with coronavirus only two people [are allowed] in. When we got into see my dad [we wore] double gloves and a hazmat suit – there is no hugging or kissing,’ she said.
Ms Glynn-Homan left the hospital with her father’s belongings ‘triple-bagged’ and was told they must be left outside in a shed for four days to avoid the risk of contamination.
She has been in isolation since her father’s death and will not see her husband her three young children for another nine days.
Ms Glynn-Homan, her mother and three of her brothers will be the only mourners paying their respects to a closed casket at her father’s funeral as Ireland continues its first week of official lockdown which is to last until April 12.
‘His grandkids don’t get to say goodbye, his son and daughter-in-laws don’t get to either,’ she wrote in an Instagram post the night of his death.
‘There will be a closed casket, we will not see my dad in again after tonight. My brothers did not see him laid out. We will have no church service, no celebrating his life.’
The Glynn family plan to reunite in Dublin to celebrate Michael’s life together when the coronavirus pandemic is over.