The ‘turning point’ in a loving couple’s battle against coronavirus came when the hospitalised pair were moved in next to each other, their family said.

Michael Blessington, 68, and wife Mary, 67, first met when they were 13 and in September will celebrate their 48th wedding anniversary after surviving Covid-19.

Their relatives have said the couple’s recovery began when they were reunited in hospital, having originally been treated on separate wards.

The Blessingtons were taken to hospital by ambulance within an hour of each other, both suffering from ‘very low’ oxygen levels. Both had underlying health conditions, Michael had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer and Mary has severe asthma. 

The couple’s son told the BBC the situation was grave, with staff asking Michael if he wanted to be resuscitated should things suddenly deteriorate. 

Mary thought she was not going to survive, even asking doctors on her first night in hospital to give her an injection and let her die.

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She compared the virus to nothing she had ever experienced before, including the pain of childbirth or the uncertainty of an asthma attack.

It was only after the couple was able to speak with each other, on separate wards, that they changed their minds and decided to fight.

Mary said that it was frightening being in hospital when surrounded by medics in protective suits and people dying.

Son Craig knew keeping the pair separated would not help either of them and that they would spend much of their time worrying for the other.

He told the BBC: ‘They’d do anything for each other, they’re always together. On their holidays Dad fishes and Mum sits with him and reads. Dad is full of tattoos and is a real character, but their relationship is unique.’

Eventually, after the family’s efforts they were able to be reunited when adjacent beds were found.

Craig said:  ‘We called [Michael] and the first thing he said was “I’ve got her”.

‘We think that was the turning point for dad – he’d been so ill we thought he would die. He was grey, couldn’t breathe and was getting worse. When they moved him and mum together that was the turning point. You could see it from there, for dad definitely.’

Michael and Mary are on a long slow road to recovery and doctors hope they can be fully discharged shortly to begin preparations for their 48th wedding anniversary in September.

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