Take coronavirus seriously, say victim’s daughters

The daughters of a man who died after being diagnosed with coronavirus have urged people to take health advice about the illness seriously.

Leonard Gibson, 78, who also had the lung disease chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, died at the Northern General Hospital, in Sheffield, on Tuesday, just days after testing positive for Covid-19.

His daughters, Lisa Broughton and Michelle Lenton, paid tribute to their “kind, loving” father and appealed to people to show “community spirit, kindness and vigilance”.

Mr Gibson, who lived in sheltered accommodation in Oughtibridge, Sheffield, was admitted to hospital on Saturday after continuing to feel unwell following a course of antibiotics.

e tested positive for coronavirus following his admission and died three days later.

Mrs Broughton and Mrs Lenton urged everyone to take the advice being given by Public Health England and the Government seriously, and to “take time to make sure those people who may be alone or more vulnerable are able to manage over the next few months”.

Mrs Broughton said: “At a time like this, community spirit, kindness and vigilance are more important than ever to make sure we get through this outbreak.

“Everyone should listen to the advice we are being given and take this seriously.”

They described their father as “kind, loving, generous, crazy, and fun-loving – a jolly Irish man who made everyone smile”.

They praised the NHS and staff at the hospital for going “the extra mile” for their family.

They said: “We have nothing but praise for the NHS and our dad’s treatment, especially the kindness that everyone showed us.

“They really went the extra mile for dad and our family.

“For example, when we could not be there in person, we rang lots of times to see how he was.

“Even though they were probably very busy, every member of staff took time to talk to us in detail, but, more importantly, they made sure dad knew each time that we had phoned and that we had said we loved him.

“A small thing but so important to us at that time.”