Thanks over dying Covid couple 'overwhelms' Stoke nurse - BBC News
Scott Summerfield helped the couple to hold hands in their final hours and listen to Glenn Miller.
Scott Summerfield said letting the couple be together was "the least we could do for them"

A dying Covid patient told medics he was "in heaven" when they rearranged a hospital ward so he could hold the hand of his wife who also had the virus.

Nurse Scott Summerfield says he has been "overwhelmed" by public support after his tweet last week about the elderly couple's "last few hours".

The unnamed pair, whom Mr Summerfield said had been together 67 years, have since died, he confirmed.

They were cared for at Royal Stoke Hospital.

The "beautiful story" of how they stayed together to the end has been shared on Twitter more than 19,000 times, receiving more than 220,000 likes.

Mr Summerfield said: "It is just a great example of the care we are giving to our patients and to share that with the world, really there is no better message.

"[The response] was very, very overwhelming, and the support from people out there was just amazing."

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Mr Summerfield, who works on elderly care Covid wards, said the couple had been in hospital for a few days when they began to deteriorate.

"We sort of decided there and then that we needed to get them together, it was the least we could do for them," he said.

Staff made a large cubicle for the couple, pushed together their beds with pillows in the middle so they could hold hands, and played Glenn Miller songs on Youtube - their favourite music, according to the nurse.

Mr Summerfield said: "When I asked [the husband] how he felt his answer was 'I'm now in heaven'.

"To have that impact on somebody and for him to thank us when all we were doing was the right thing was just overwhelming for all of us.

"It is such a personal moment, somebody dying, and to be there for that and to make their passing as comfortable as possible is sometimes all we have got left to give and that's what we endeavour to do."

He added: "It was a beautiful story and it really did capture the world's heart."

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