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The daughter of an animal rescue worker who died with coronavirus has spoken of her sadness that her mother will never meet her twin babies.
Lauren Brotherston, 31, said her mother Paula had been overjoyed to learn that her daughter was due to give birth to twins as she had done — to Lauren and her brother Marc.
Mrs Brotherston, 56, who worked at The Scratching Post cat rescue centre in Enfield for 10 years, lost her fight for life after almost three weeks on a hospital ventilator.
Ms Brotherston, who is 18 weeks pregnant, said her mother had been desperate to “hold on to see the babies”.
She said: “Mum was so kind and generous. She loved animals and working for the charity but used to say so many people would come in to talk to her everyday she would never get any work done.
“I’m so sad she is not going to see my children and they will never get to meet her.
“I’m a twin and she was so excited when she found out I was having twins as well. She sent me her last bottle of hand sanitiser in the post before she fell ill because she said I had to look after myself for my babies. She really wanted to hang on to see them, but in the end she just couldn’t.”
Mrs Brotherston was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a lung condition, six years ago but her family said she had never suffered any symptoms or had to have treatment.
She started feeling ill shortly after lockdown was announced on March 23 and entered hospital at the start of April. She battled the virus in Watford General Hospital for almost three weeks before she died on April 20.
Her daughter added: “The hardest thing was not being able to say goodbye before they turned the ventilator off. My brother was allowed to dress up in all the PPE and go in but I was told because I’m pregnant I shouldn’t do it.
“Mum will always be remembered as a big community figure. The amount of support and well-wishes we have received since she passed away has been truly overwhelming and shows just how loved she was.”
